Diary of a Madman
by Mountain Blue
Summary: [SasuNaru] When Sasuke is advised to start writing in a journal, he finds out things about himself that he never really knew, and some things about Naruto he'd like to know more about. What will happen when the whore Sakura wants to get revenge?
1. November 17th

Chapter One: November 17th

* * *

I don't know what to say. I don't know what to write.

Everyone tells me that writing in a journal is the best for venting. It won't give you any opinions, tell you your being an asshole, and best of all - it'll never tell a soul any of your secrets.

Sakura swears she'll always be there if I ever need to talk to her. Her door is always open, she says. But all she ever does is talk about herself, she interrupts my sentences, and she never leaves me alone. I have at least 5 messages on my answering machine when I get home every day, and she bugs me about how I should get a cell phone in case theres an emergency. Like there'll ever be an emergency with me around. I can't tell her things one, because she's fucking annoying, and two, because I feel like if I ever tell her anything it'll be around the whole village within a day. Not like I'd ever tell her anything about myself anyway.

Kakashi is the same way. Well, sort of. He acts like he doesn't even listen when I talk to him. He's always got his nose in that porno of his and just nods his head when I'm speaking. And then afterwards he claims he forgets our conversation. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to talk to him in the first place.

Naruto, well... he always acts like nothing is wrong and then when we get into an arguement I try to write it off as if nothing is wrong and its not a big deal, but he always end up prying into my business and trying to analyze my brain.

There is something about him, though... something that I like. And I only say that because I'm writing this down and I know nobody will ever see it anyway. I guess I like that he's not really afraid to argue with me. Everyone else is so afraid to get on my bad side. Well, not that I don't give them a reason... I do always have that pissed off look on my face. But he can just chew my head off and I can tell him to shut the fuck up and he can tell me fuck you and then tomorrow it'll seem like it never happened.

Like... I never even use that word. I don't think there's anything I 'like' in this world besides that quality about Naruto.

What's up with that? One day I'm going to punch that stupid grin right off of his face. I'm going to go so ape-shit on that dobe and instead of laughing that stupid laugh of his he's going to be writhing in pain from his beat down. But the strange thing is, I know it'll be just the same the next day. I know he'll be bloody and shit-faced and I'll be staring down at him with the deadliest glare I have, and he'll still smile and say 'Well fuck, this sucks doesn't it?'.

I wish he'd just go after Sakura since he likes her so much. Fuck, I wish she'd swoon over Naruto instead of me. I wish anyone else would like... well, anyone else but me. I hate having the constant feeling that everyone is trying to get you out of your shell. It's like a hermit crab - you take away the shell, you're taking away the home. I've lived in this little shell for all my life and they ask me all these questions about why I'm such an asshole when I don't really have an answer. Well, yes I have an answer, my past of course - who wouldn't live in a shell after all that shit?

Naruto wouldn't.

Maybe I'm just so used to living like this that I don't know how to stop.

Or maybe I'm just being a stupid fuck right now and I should just concentrate on what's important like getting my revenge. Wow, this journal writing thing may have been a good idea after all. Get my head straight before I make some dumb decisions like caring about what other people think, right?

I didn't think a hermit crab like me could have so much to write down. It's kind of funny, even if I met an asshole just like myself I don't think I would talk about anything. I don't need some fucktard giving their stupid opinions of my life. I'll do what I want to do and nobody can persuade me to do otherwise. Besides, I'm the only one that matters to me - survival of the fittest.

And I'm the fucking fittest.

* * *

Author's Note: Just to add - This story will alternate between journal entries and real life. The journal entry chapters will be considerably shorter, but I will try to update with the storyline chapters soon after. 


	2. Pink and Sunshine

Chapter 2: Pink and Sunshine

* * *

_Something is wet and sticky._

_Fuck.. it's all over my face._

_...Oh._

I woke up to find drool all over my fucking notebook, that's just great. I pulled up my shirt to try and wipe off some of the shit from the pages so it won't smear the words, but that didn't work to well and I started to think that maybe I should've written in pen instead of pencil.

_Was I writing for that long?_

* * *

No, not really. Sasuke looked down to the doodles he drew of him killing Itachi and such other wonderful images of destruction. He cracked the pencil in half with his right hand and wondered why in the hell he took the advice to write in a stupid notebook anyway. Food.. he needed food in his stomach. 

Unfortunately, there is no such as going to find food without finding Naruto. As much as he loved ramen, and the fact that nearly every place in the village sold ramen, well.. he's easy to bump into. Added to the fact that Sasuke's house happened to be very close to Ichiraku - Naruto's favorite place to go for said tasty noodles. There was a grunt, a scowl, and an attempt to walk straight past the sunshine haired boy sitting on the bench slurping characteristically. Sasuke really didn't care enough to pursue his thoughts about the journal entry he wrote yesterday; it was just the fact that he knew Naruto would bother him about something or another that was really uninteresting. Slender hands found comfort in beige pants pockets when an all to familiar high-pitched screech reached his ears.

"Sasuke-kun!"

_Fuck you, Sakura._

All that was felt was a quick brush to the elbow where Sakura tried to take the boy's arm, and she was pushed away with a resoluteness that could only be Sasuke's. For the umpteenth time he ignored her whimpers and cries and invitations out to dinner - but this time with more uncompromising resentment then he had ever expressed towards her. She could feel his coldness radiating through his skin when she reached again for his arm and the bitterness electrified her fingertips.

"Sasuke.. what's wrong?"

Sakura's eyebrows sunk deep into the bridge of her nose as she drew her shaking hand to rest on her chest. Sasuke turned to her and clenched and unclenched his fists in an attempt to tell her he really didn't know what to say. She was one of the people that advised him to write in a journal to vent and perhaps even 'get to know himself better' - as she had put it.

It was cold, and the girl's nipples were hard. Yeah, he noticed. He was starting to tremble a little himself, it was November after all; but those nipples just kept grabbing his attention.

_What the fuck. I really don't care about Sakura. I'm probably just fucking pent up._ A light shake of the head. Sasuke blinked and shook slate hair out of his eyes, letting out a deep breath and licking his lips visciously.

"Listen. Sakura. I don't want to talk."

His hands returned to their respective pockets as he turned to walk away from the girl who seemed to have an imaginary question mark over her head. She sauntered over to the bench that Naruto was sitting on eagerly eating his ramen, but her timing was a little bit off. Adding his bowl to the pile of already emptied ones, Naruto stood with his eyes locked on a certain target.

"Naruto, where are you going?" The surprise evident in her voice that Naruto wasn't paying attention to her for the first time in her life was obvious.

"I'm going to catch up with that bastard! Ja! Oh, and would you mind picking up the tab?" He overturned his pockets in a cheeky albeit adorable way and ran off with a salute, leaving behind a pink-haired genin who had no clue what was going on.

* * *

"Sasuke... wait UP!" 

I don't know how many times I yelled that in the past five minutes, but I was getting tired of yelling it. Why the fuck did he start running in the first place?

I finally caught up with him when he decided to slow down. Well, I think part of it was because he had hit a river outside of the village and Sasuke probably didn't feel like trying to cross it. He didn't even turn to look at me after running after him for that long, he just stood there staring at something in the water that I couldn't see for shit. After spending another few minutes trying to catch my breath, I finally started to say what I watned to say. One question I had to ask had been weighing on my mind for a while now.

"Why the hell did you start running when I called after you? You're such a bastard."

He chuckled, well _one_ chuckle, really. It was more like a 'hn'. I saw him swipe a hand through his hair like he had something on his mind, but I was afraid if I started asking anymore questions he'd make a dive for the river. So, I asked the one thing I already knew the answer to.

"Sasuke, are you okay?"

There was a long pause and then, "I'm fine."

Yeah, I knew I knew the answer to that one. But it was just then I got such a dirty and horrible idea. I'm not sure, but I think I grinned the dumbest grin ever.

"So, since when are you so entranced by Sakura's tits?" I gave him a light punch to the shoulder.

He spun around to face me and grabbed my collar. _Fuck, I think I just stirred some shit._

"There is nothing going on between me and Sakura. Don't you even fucking dare."

He let go after my flailing indicated I couldn't breathe that well, and he turned back to staring down at the water. I was about to open my mouth to say something else when he turned back towards me with the evilest of evil looks in his eye. I was almost positive I saw him looking at Sakura's breasts when she tried to talk to him, but Sasuke was never one to admit stuff like that. I mean, he's got Sakura and every other woman in the village thinking he's the hottest thing to ever grace this earth, so what's to be ashamed about? After about thirty seconds of his eyes burning holes into my head, I asked him again if he was okay.

"...I'm pent up, okay?" There he goes, looking at the fish again. I'll have to settle for talking to his back.

"Pent up about what?"

"Anger, I don't know."

I saw him put his hand through his hair again, so I figured he was in thought about something or other. I thought that if he really had pent up anger, he'd be more... well, angry I guess. He seemed to be pretty nonresponsive, but that was normal Sasuke every day. Well, unless he'd been bottled up his whole life, and that would suck. I could only think of two other feelings you could keep bottled up inside you, and I definitely wasn't going to ask him about love, so I settled on the first emotion that came to mind.

"Are you sad about something?"

"I have other things to worry about than being sad."

"Well, that's kind of my point... you're worrying about things."

For the third time his hand found itself wandering around in the strands of his hair, and I wondered for a second if he was in deep thought or had lice. He turned around again, I don't know why he kept turning around in the first place - but this time his eyes weren't glaring at me like death. They were closed, and he was rubbing the bridge of his nose with his calloused fingers.

"I have things to worry about because I'm not a carefree ball of stupid fucking sunshine like yourself."

Sasuke pushed past me and knocked me right on my ass, heading back towards the village I guessed - but he wouldn't have any luck there. Sakura was just going to bother him some more, and more and more until he just punched her out. I called after him a few times, but he ignored me again, so I just shrugged and figured I'll talk to him tomorrow.

"See you at breakfast again tomorrow, Sasuke!"

And he just flipped me the bird and went on his merry way.

* * *

Sasuke had a whole day to be brooding and mysterious. He decided that in order to do so he would wander around the market, picking up and putting back random things he didn't really intend to buy. It's not like he had anything to _do_ really, but get his germy hands all over every fruit and vegetable in every cart he passed by. He didn't know what he was frustrated about today, possibly about how is 'revenge on Itachi' and how 'his entire clan died'. Not that it's anything to speak lightly about of course, but there were other things that were on his mind lately. 

_Stupid fucking Naruto, bothering me just to ask a question he already knew the answer to._

He found his way home, slamming the door with more force than usual and walking over to the telephone with the blinking red light he was extremely displeased to look at. Three new messages was what the machine read, and he figured they were all from Sakura. There was usually more messages than that, but it was only just noon so there was still time to fill her quota for the day. Sasuke hesitantly hit the green button and listened.

"Sasuke! Meet me a-"

Skip.

"Hey Sasuke... I-"

And skip again. He rolled his eyes and held his finger over the skip button this time.

"Oi, Sasuke. You know who this is..."

_What? Naruto..?_

"...nted to tell you that you were being a fucktard this morning and you should really learn to talk to someone. What happened to that journal you were writing? That didn't help you calm down some? Not like you aren't always pissed off... hmm. Whatever, I'll see you later, or tomorrow, so you'd better be ready to talk! Ja!" _beeeeep._

Sasuke let out a deep sigh and plopped down in the armchair beside him, rubbing his eyes and wiping his bangs out of his face only to have them fall back where they were. There wasn't really an explanation to why he didn't feel like throwing his problems onto another person, it was just the fact that his duties were his and his alone. Why would he want somebody else's help in going after his own family?

He got up and went to the bathroom, taking a long hard look into the mirror. Sasuke saw Sasuke, with cold unfeeling eyes and a horrible look on his face. There was a knock at the door from what he heard from the bathroom, and he could also faintly hear the calling of a certain pink haired girl from the other side of it. He splashed some water onto his face and dried off, going to the front door and flinging it open. To Sasuke's dismay, he was right about the person who he thought was on the other side.

"What do you want?"

Sakura stuttered and clutched a hand to her chest. "W-Well, I thought-"

"No, you didn't 'thought'. You never think. And you know I will **never** even remotely talk to you, so why do you keep bothering me?"

She put her hands on her hips and furrowed her eyebrows at him, and Sasuke could feel that she was about to lecture him - for a long time if he would allow it. Sakura paused for a long time and stared at him, Sasuke staring back intently and waiting for his time to strike.

"Sasuke... why do you do this?"

He kept his straight face for about ten seconds before creasing his mouth into a frown. "Because I'm an asshole, that's why."

Sakura reached out to him and was about to say something else, but the door was slammed too quickly in her face for her to get any words out. Sasuke leaned his back against the door and slid down to the floor, laying down in front of it with his hands in front of his face. It wasn't that he felt any regret or sadness for what he just did, he was just frustrated in having been bothered... again. He layed there long enough to hear Sakura's footsteps retreat from his porch.

"I'm an asshole."


	3. November 19th

Chapter Three: November 19th

* * *

I punched a hole in the wall last night. I was angry the whole day and it was making me even more angry... if that even makes sense. I have some interesting things to fucking say today.

So, what the fuck was up with Naruto yesterday? I mean, I could understand why Sakura was being up my ass, because she's ALWAYS that way - but I don't remember Naruto being so god damned annoying. He couldn't have always been this 'caring' about me or I would have noticed. You know, it's one thing to have pinky bothering me every second of every day, but I don't need idiot number two to join her squadron of evil undead.

That's what has me so confused. I know I keep saying it, but I just don't **understand** what they're fascination is with bothering me. Well, Naruto bothers me, Sakura just molests me. I guess they could possibly care... I wrote that in the other fucking paragraph, now I'm just fucking repeating myself - but I don't know what else to think. Why am I even letting this bother me anyway?

I mean, Sakura has been hounding on me since the day I met her. Naruto never _seemed_ too concerned, but now he's all on the up and up on 'let's try and help Sasuke' and 'Sasuke looks sad, let's follow him even though he's running away'. He knows since the day we first became Team 7 what my goal was in life and why I was training, does he not expect me to be a little tense about it? Moreso than usual now because now that our training is over for the time being, I _could_ technically leave and go after Itachi if I wanted to. Maybe Naruto is just afraid I'll leave and he'll never see me again or something.

Ya think? Hmm, that's kind of an interesting thought. Too bad I wouldn't miss him if he ever went away. Should I feel bad about that? But then again, if Naruto looked sad, I don't even think I'd go to the lengths that he does to try and make someone feel better.

But maybe, he's _not_ joining Sakura's league of zombies. There's something in Naruto's eyes that tells me that underneath that ignorant persona he has, somebody really honeslty cares about my welfare. He doesn't care because he's obsessed with me, not because he wants to get in my pants. Eww... well I'd hope not anyway. Even if he did, he certainly doesn't show it.

...I have no idea why I'm thinking of Naruto this way.

Maybe I should return the favor? Nah, he can suck my balls. Just because he feels like being nice to me doesn't mean that I should have to act the same way.

But, I kind of want to.

---------------------------

November 19th - 10:17 p.m.

Naruto acted normally towards me today. He asked me to spar with him, I think he's getting a little restless since we haven't had any formal training in a long time. For some reason, to me, when people act sympathetic towards someone it doesn't constitute as 'normal'. He won the match (gag), so he made me promise to buy him lunch.

Yeah, he won the second match too. I gave him an IOU for a favor against my will. We'll see.


	4. Catalyst: part 1

Chapter 4: Catalyst (part 1)

* * *

The sunlight beamed through the gap in the curtains, and right as Sasuke rolled over, brutally stung his eyes right through the lids. He sat up and rubbed them, and held his stomach as a sharp pang of pain hit his gut. He was worried about the days events, and he looked at his clock to see that it was already almost noon. With no reason to wake up in the morning, well, there was no reason to wake up. 

Through a shower and a change of clothes the stomach pains continued, doing flipflops and somersaults and every upsetting thing a stomach could do. He ran a comb through his wet hair and wondered what was making him so nervous, or scared, or whatever the reason his stomach felt so light. Sasuke was never very good at tapping into his own feelings. He studied and poked at the wrinkles of his face in the bathroom mirror, wiping a calloused hand over his mouth then reaching back to scratch at the base of his hairline. Finally, after a few minutes of stalling, he rested his head aganist the mirror and gave out a long sigh.

"Dear Diary, today I'm being a fucktard."

"You're always a fucktard."

Sasuke jumped back and instinctively slammed the door shut, to shield himself against whatever invader had entered his house. Then once he got his senses back, he'd go out there and kick whoever-it-was' ass. After a deep breath, he clenched his fist and swung the door open, only to have his arm grabbed and be flung onto the floor. Then Sasuke heard a distinctive laugh, followed by the word "FACEPLANT!", and then even more obnoxious laughter.

_Naruto._

The livid boy kicked out his leg and knocked Naruto down to the floor with him, dove on top of the blonde and hooked his arms around to his back.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?"

"Waifinf for fou to fafe upf." Was his answer, through a mouthful of carpet.

"...huh?"

Naruto craned his neck rather painfully so Sasuke could hear him. "Waiting for you to wake up, dumbass."

"Couldn't you have waited outside? Or _downstairs_ at least?!"

Naruto threw Sasuke off of his back and the raven haired boy fell against the bed, rubbing his back from the impact. A curse be put on wood bedframes! Since when did Naruto get that strong, anyway? He cracked an eye open at Naruto who was sitting cross-legged, patiently awaiting Sasuke to get a grip on himself.

"With all the touching and staring at yourself you do I would have _frozen_ if I waited outside!" With a signature fox grin, Naruto purposely dodged the second half of the other boy's proposition.

_Holy. Shit. Act calm Sasuke, act calm._

Sasuke face-vaulted, but shook it off and slowly started to stand up. He gave the blonde fox a punch to the head, which deserved him much whining and annoyances and promises to kick his ass, as usual. But Sasuke knew he would never be able to live that down. As much as Naruto acts dumb and stupid he has a pretty good memory, and if it's something he can use to make fun of or possibly even blackmail Sasuke, he was going to remember it. Luckily he wasn't doing anything perverted at the time. He didn't really care if Naruto spread the word that he likes to study himself oddly in the mirror.

In the midst of these thoughts, Sasuke remembered his stomach hadn't been agreeing with him earlier. He slipped a hand slightly underneath his shirt and rubbed at his belly, but it didn't seem to be upset anymore. Maybe it was something he ate? He turned to look at Naruto just in time to see him stand and give him a punch in the arm. Sasuke couldn't supress a scowl, either because of the returned punch or if he was just silently accusing the sunshine boy of causing him his tummy aches.

"Yo, what the fuck is up with you? You get stabbed or something?"

He grabbed a fistful of Sasuke's shirt where he had been rubbing at his belly, and pulled it up savagely towards the chest. Naruto only got a glance at Sasuke's torso when he was violently pushed off to leave Sasuke to smooth down his clothing.

"Seriously Sasuke, are you alright? You're acting funny. I've seen you without a shirt dozens of times. Does your stomach hurt or something? Are you sick?"

"I'm fine, idiot! Now let's get this over with before I change my mind."

* * *

I ran downstairs as fast as I could, hoping that Naruto would understand that it meant "let's not talk about me anymore". Unfortunately, Naruto being the way he is, he slid down the banister to cut me off. He was certainly a persistent little bugger, wasn't he? I pushed him out of the way and headed out the door to Ichiraku's, assuming Naruto wanted to eat what he ate every other day of his life. I heard him yelling for me to wait up, and I glanced over my shoulder to see how far behind he was. I skidded to a stop when I didn't see him, so I turned around with a dumb grin on my face and was about to take a step when I was tackled to the ground by the same boy I was trying to escape. As if trying to get revenge, he pinned me into the same position I had had him in before, only this time I got sand in my mouth instead of carpet. Either way, I was extremely pissed. 

"Get OFF!"

He leant down close to my ear and spoke as calmly and quietly as he could. It wasn't like Naruto to try **not** to make a scene.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, Sasuke, but when I get up, you'd better start acting normally. I don't smell that bad for you to be running away from me so much."

I rolled my eyes at him as he got up, which earned me another punch to the shoulder. Naruto is such a fucking tool, I don't know why I agreed to do this shit. I dusted the sand off my clothers and followed him for the rest of the two-minute walk to Ichiraku's, and when we sat down he took the liberty of ordering for both of us. It had been a silent walk, albeit a short one, with evident tenacity in Naruto's steps. I could see his muscles tensing in his arms because of his short-sleeved shirt, and the way he stuffed his hands in his pockets reminded me of... me. After we sat down I crossed my arms and put on a blank expression. I guess I gotta do what I gotta do.

* * *

Naruto, for the first time in his life, actually felt kind of uncomfortable. He hadn't been able to take one bite without Sasuke staring at his every move. But then again, he guessed that could just be Sasuke's way of saying "hey, hurry the fuck up so I can get out of here". 

He didn't understand what was up with Sasuke. He knew that there were issues of his that had to be worked out, but there was never a time he'd acted so... strange. There have been days where he'd run away if Sakura sent her army after him, but Naruto and Sasuke have been best friends as long as he could remember. Maybe Naruto showed it a little bit more, but that's what he, and everyone else in the village saw them as. He knew that he'd have Sasuke's back in any situation, and he was pretty confident he'd recieve the same treatment. Whatever it was that Sasuke wasn't talking about, it was certainly affecting their relationship.

Whenever there were problems between them, it was never put on the other's shoulders. Which is why Naruto, and even Sakura, thought the behavior of their friend was pretty odd. Naruto looked up from his bowl and met the eyes of his companion, whose eyes were already on him, and said something he had meant to say earlier.

"I'm glad that you took our advice and started writing in a journal."

For the first time since they sat, Sasuke tore his eyes away from the blonde and studied his untouched bowl of chicken ramen. He paused for a little bit, Naruto's eyes burning into the side of his skull. Which I guess he deserved for all the staring he had been doing before. He picked up his chopsticks and gently began to stir.

"Who said I was doing that shit?"

"And I quote: 'Dear Diary, today I'm being a fucktard.' I can assume that means you've at least written _something_."

He hung his head low and muttered 'maybe', which Naruto smirked about as he put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. If he was acting strange now, maybe putting his thoughts on paper would help.

_That feeling again. Fuck. _ Sasuke held his breath for a few seconds before dropping his chopsticks onto the table and moving both hands to clutch at his abdomen. The shoulder that Naruto was touching felt hot. He felt the hand shake him lightly as he wrapped his arms around his stomach and hiccuped. Sasuke heard Naruto calling to him, but all he could do was wonder why the hell his body was doing this to him. Sasuke leaned forward as if he was going to vomit, and Naruto instinctively pulled his hand away as not to get in the way of anything.

But then it went away.

The flip flops and somersaults went away and Sasuke's stomach had that light feeling again, and he looked down at his hands as if they were going to give him answers. Sasuke shrugged, thinking he probably was coming down with something. He looked over at his friend who wore a confused look on his face. He seemed to have loosened up since the walk, although he was irritated at Sasuke's demeanor.

"Hellooooooooooooooo, earth to dickhead... you in there?"

Naruto obnoxiously knocked on Sasuke's skull.

Another turn in his stomach.

Sasuke was confused. He hadn't eaten anything out of the ordinary, hadn't even touched his ramen, so what was with this? Cancer? An ulcer? Little gnomes swimming around in his stomach acid? Whatever it was, Naruto wasn't helping in the least. Not that Sasuke expected him to pull Pepto-Bismol out of his back pocket or anything, but the least he could've done was to stop hitting him every ten minutes. As if on cue, he felt another few knocks to his head through his raven hair.

More uneasy feelings.

"Naruto, stop fucking touching me."

Naruto characteristically got up and put his hands behind his head, but not before letting out a long yawn.

"Well, I'm leaving."

"..What?"

"I'm leaving. I'm not struggling with you all day. When you feel better, let me know. You still owe me a favor."

Yet another slap to Sasuke's back and a cheshire grin later, Naruto was merrily on his way to do his own business. Sasuke rubbed his shoulderblade, silently cursing Naruto for his annoyances, and making a mental note of getting revenge at another time. He reluctantly picked up his chopsticks, wary about taking a bite of his ramen for fear of either vomiting or getting diarreah all over the place. But he was rather hungry, so he slowly lifted some noodles into his mouth, making faces at the fact that his food was now luke-warm. But his stomach was growling, and a few mouthfuls later, the bowl was empty before he could realize it. He licked his lips thankfully and set his chopsticks inside the bowl, looking down at his evil, evil belly.

But there was nothing. Not one turn, somersault, or flip-flop. His stomach was contently full, and that was it.

_Eh. What the fuck ever. Fucking Naruto and his stupid... blah._

There it was again. He was about to vomit. He looked around for nothing in particular, like somebody was around that knew everything that was going on. But there was only one thing he could think of.

* * *

_knock knock knock_

I wanted to leave, because I knew this was a bad idea and I was only getting myself into trouble. But I already heard the footsteps coming towards the door, so I had to suck it up. It didn't matter - I wasn't going to let anybody else piss me off for the day. This was the only idea I had, knowing they might have the information I was after. I stiffened as the door slid open, and I immediately slammed my hand against the doorframe and stared them straight in the face.

"Sakura, I need you to do something for me."


	5. Catalyst: part 2

Chapter 5: Catalyst (part 2)

* * *

Sakura sat wide-eyed like a deer in headlights. She felt as if she was about to faint. Looking down at her fidgeting hands, she began to run the fabric of the napkin on her lap through her fingers. Sakura steered her eyes towards the boy sitting across from her, his own eyes glued to her face as if he was studying her features intimately. But Sakura's mind was still running overtime.

She couldn't believe she was actually out on a _date_ with Sasuke. Right now. At a nice restaurant. With him looking as if he was about to eat her face.

Inner Sakura was ecstatic, while outer Sakura wondered why someone who had basically said he'd never bother with her would ask her out on a date.

An actual date.

"Sakura."

She snapped out of her thoughts with a light shake of the head and readjusted her eyes to Sasuke. She stuttered, trying to regain her composure.

"O-oh, that's right... y-you had a favor to ask?"

Sakura's lips curled into a nervous, lopsided smile. She had always thought she'd be bursting with happiness on her first date with the boy she obsessed with for so long. But somehow, it just seemed a little... strange.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, taking in Sakura's entirety.

"...Later. Just talk to me."

Sakura scratched the base of her hairline. "But Sasuke, normally you hate it whe-"

"Just do it."

She let out a breath in a small huff then smiled once more. But this time, it wasn't unsure, but genuine and warm.

* * *

The conversation had went on for a little over an hour, with Sakura chatting rather animatedly to Sasuke about this, that, and the other thing. Sasuke sounded himself at minimal points to 'mhm' and nod, and maybe adding in a one or two word interjection. She grew more fluent in her speech, her uneasiness first coming through her voice, until it became cheerful sounding and her hand movements accented the adjectives.

Their plates had long been cleared and Sasuke was on his second glass of Merlot. He leaned forward on his chin, half thinking to himself and half listening to the girl in front of him.

"-as so much fun, Sasuke! Naruto had actually been the lea..."

Her airy voice drifted away as the mention of Naruto had made visions of the blonde in Sasuke's head. He thought absentmindedly about his friend and cringed slightly when he burped up a rather strange taste. He dismissed it, his thoughts trailing again to his comrade. His intestines jumped into his lungs, and that incredibly weightless feeling entered his chest.

_Look at Sakura, damnit! Look at her!_

Sasuke looked up at her, her mouth slowing her words as she took on a look of concern. He groped at his stomach, oddly wanting these feelings to continue. Bewildered and a little scared, Sakura hurriedly ushered over the waiter to get the check.

"Sakura... I'm fine."

Sasuke looked her over gently, taking the paper from the waiter's hand and skimming it over. Satisfied, he threw money on the table with a luscious tip. Nodding to the waiter who was thanking him graciously, he took Sakura by the arm and tugged her out of her chair.

"Come here."

The words sounded like a command to Sakura's ears, and she quickly realized that Sasuke was becoming annoyed. Fear struck her chest, she had thought things were going along swimmingly.

He pulled her to a stop around the side of the building, teeth grinding together impatiently.

"S-Sasuke, I... I'm sorry if I-"

"Be quiet."

Her teeth made a soft 'click' sound as she closed her mouth and obeyed Sasuke's words.

"Now, a favor. You agreed you'd do something for me."

Sakura nodded quickly, afraid to speak. She didn't want to get snapped at again.

He looked at her with a deadly glint in his eye, gripping both of Sakura's biceps tightly. He saw her face go pale, slightly squirming in his grip. Sasuke knew she was afraid he was going to beat her senseless. Sakura held her breath, as Sasuke did the opposite and let his breath out in a hard sigh. His hands gripped her tighter.

_Oh God, he's going to murder me! Please, let this be quick and painless..._

_I'm sorry, Sakura. But I need to know something..._

As the last of their thoughts played out, Sasuke dipped his head down, parting his lips and softly covering her lips with his own. He pushed her into the brick wall of the restaurant, capturing and recapturing her mouth.

He felt Sakura intake breath sharply from her nose, not knowing what the **hell** was going on right now. She squeaked when he squeezed her arm a few times, willing her to respond to him.

_Damnit, Sakura! Just kiss me back!_

He realized it immediately when she shyly responded, and Sasuke took this opportunity to work his tongue into her mouth. Sasuke mentally regarded his stomach, waiting for it to come.

They kissed with fervor for a few minutes, but Sakura didn't realize that her partner was becoming more and more irritated. She did realize it, however, when her arms started to lose feeling. He felt her shake her arms in frustration, and he immediately let go and released her mouth as well. Sasuke looked into Sakura's eyes with heat, regarding his stomach with anger.

"I'm sorry." he said with breathy words, trying to mask his angry feelings. He felt the warm air come from her mouth from panting. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"...Thanks for the favor."

Sasuke grunted in annoyance and turned away from her, walking home at a brisk pace, then picking up to a run as he neared his home.

* * *

Sakura sat wide-eyed like a deer in headlights. She felt as if she was about to faint. She shuffled her feet against the sidewalk, leaning back to rest her head on the cool bricks. Sakura sobbed silently, blaming herself over and over that she had brought this upon herself. Fuck, she couldn't even hold it _against_ him! He did ask for a favor, after all.

Inwardly, she cursed herself.

_"Thanks for the favor."_

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha never liked Sakura. Hell, he never liked anybody in his fanclub, either. There was not one woman on the planet that he could say he ever felt a connection with other than annoyance.

Which is why he had to test himself.

A very, _very_ small part of him kind of felt bad for what he did, but hey, he warned her and she agreed. He didn't even want to kiss her, which should have been the best sign, but he went ahead and did it anyway. Part of it felt good, battling tongues with someone who he knew got wet every time he was around. Well, evilly good. Besides that slight mental stimulation, he felt nothing. He waited and waited and forced himself to french someone who he wasn't even attracted to, only to have no results.

He thought maybe since she was a woman, and things like that normally get men horny, he could figure at least a little bit of himself out.

"Shit!!" A chair got thrown mercilessly into a table.

"Motherfucker!" Bye-bye telephone, smash goes the television.

"URRRRRRRRRRG!" That poor, poor window.

Sasuke clenched him stomach as hard as he could, digging his nails into his flesh. Not one goddamn feeling!

"Jesus Christ! What the fuck is wrong with me?!" He paused to bang his head against the bathroom door. He entered to look at himself in the mirror, characteristically studying himself. Slamming his hands onto the side of the sink and boring his eyes into the reflection of himself, he continued his one-sided conversation.

"Look at yourself, Sasuke! Okay, you're not sick", a hand went to his forehead, "no fever, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened in your dull, dreary life. Think asshole, think!"

Then, he put two and two together.

And his mirror went to pieces.

"Okay okay, think about girls, Sasuke. Naked women. Big tits. Nice asses. Lesbians."

He closed his eyes and jumped up and down, pacing with large steps around his living room. He pictured all the porn he had ever watched in his life.

…but he never _had_ watched porn in his life.

Sasuke slapped himself in the face, but still no boner.

"Sakura! Yes, you made out with Sakura. That's sexy, isn't it?!"

He looked down at his penis, expectantly. There goes the coffee table.

Calming down, albeit only a little bit, Sasuke took a seat on his leather couch. He simmered there for about half an hour, then decided to close his eyes. Letting his mind wander, he thought more in-depth about his date with Sakura today. He started from the beginning, then his mind decided to skip a few scenes to when he had started to think about Naruto. Sasuke scratched his head, letting a small 'hmm' pass his lips. He thought about how caring his blonde friend had been earlier, but then his mind decided to take its own course. Things started popping into Sasuke's head that he remembered vaguely, the things that had embarrassed him greatly. He thought about how he had pushed Naruto into the carpet, how he had commented on Sasuke touching himself...

Sasuke felt sick, _again_. As he leaned over to comfort his angry stomach, his eyes caught something he didn't even realize.

A giant, bulging erection.

A horrible scream left his mouth, and he found himself running around the house frantically, as if searching for some kind of cure.

"I can't be gay, no fucking way that can happen... Naruto...?" He muttered to himself, panting heavily as he eyed his groin with such an evil eye he was surprised it didn't run away scared. Right when he was contemplating, er... _relieving himself_, he faintly heard the door creak and a few footsteps enter his house.

"Helloooooo? Sasuke? The door was open, so I let myself in! ... Anybody home?"

_Oh my God. Not Naruto. Not NOW._

Sasuke stood behind the island in the middle of his kitchen, leaning his hands against the marble counter. He wasn't moving from the spot, not when he had his friend all ready to give Naruto a horny hello. Thank the Lord for modern housing.

"Naruto." He cleared his throat when his voice cracked.

"There you are, asswipe! I came to visit to see if you already had your fill of souls and could spare my pathetic one."

"Ha ha. Very funny. What do you want?" _Seriously, hurry up so you can get out!_

Naruto walked towards him, sidestepping around the island to give Sasuke his usual pat on the back 'hello'. He slung a loose arm around the brunette's shoulder, unaware of Sasuke inching away from him almost instantly.

_Don't come any closer!_

"Naruto, don't touch me. I'm... I'm sick. I'm not feeling too well."

Naruto pulled his arm away from Sasuke, moving to the other side of the island, unaware of his friend's silent cheering.

"Sheesh, you could have told me earlier! No wonder you're so damn crabby."

Sasuke snuck a look down at his crotch. Yup, still there.

"Want medicine or something?"

_Aaaand getting harder._ "No! I'm fine, I just need sleep."

A shrug. "Well, okay. If you-"

"Thanks, now go away."

With lightning speed, Sasuke darted out from behind the counter and spun Naruto around, pushing him out the door and sending him flying into the street. Mumbling a 'see you later', he slammed the door, leaving Naruto to shake his head and wonder what the hell just happened.

He ran full speed up to his room, and from his window, he could hear Naruto yelling about how much of a bastard Sasuke_ really_ is.

* * *

AN: If I don't get enough reviews for this chapter, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to continue this. It's hard for me to write if I don't think people are reading/actually like the story. So, please comment if you like it! Much appreciated:3 


	6. November 21st

Chapter 6: November 21

* * *

I don't know what the hell happened yesterday, but I sure as fuck don't like it. You know, do you know how hard it is to try and sleep with a raging hard-on like that? I had been contemplating jerking off but then I realized it would be because of Naruto, so I willed myself to sleep anyway.

I called Kakashi-sensei last night, knowing that he reads Icha Icha enough to give me his opinion of what's going on. After a half an hour of his laughing fits, I kind of realized he wasn't taking me seriously. I screamed at that asshole and told him I really had a problem, literally and figuratively, and if all he was going to do was laugh at me I was going to hang up. I swear I could practically feel his smirk through the phone.

He calls it the 'love bug'. Apparently I've been bitten by it and that's why my stomach gives me 'butterflies' around Naruto. I hate this love lingo shit. Who even said I loved him? All I know is that for some twisted reason, he's... attractive.

And of course I dug myself a big-ass ditch, because now that Naruto saw me act out last night, he's going to be even more up my ass.

You know, flipping back a couple pages, I remember writing something about how I was going to try and treat Naruto with the same kind of niceness he treated me with. But now, I don't even remotely think I'd be comfortable doing that. Hell, I wouldn't be able to do that if every time something friendly would happen my dick would decide to join the party. Kakashi told me that he thinks the dobe is queer, but that can't possibly be, considering how he wets himself whenever Sakura is around.

Speaking of which, I totally pwned her last night. Haha, I'm so fucking evil.

But really, I didn't do it to be an asshole. I led her on to test the waters a bit, you know? I at least had to find out if women were my forté. And I might as well try it out on a girl who already thinks I'm hotter than the sun, right? Even though I did scare her to death by asking her out on a date in the first place. She must have thought I was cruel. But that's who I am.

Last night while I was on the phone with Kakashi-sensei, my cell phone rang, and it was her. I couldn't answer obviously, and she left me a voicemail that sounded like she was pretty upset. It was basically her telling me she was upset, then apologizing for it, then telling me she was upset some more. I don't understand why she would tell me she was upset if she was going to take it back and say she was sorry anyway. Probably just wants attention, but hey, that's Sakura.

Maybe writing in a journal about all this shit isn't such a good idea. If someone happens to get their hands on it, even though there's a slim chance of that happening... the whole goddamn village will know.

You know, this really pisses me off. I feel like an idiot writing a journal entry about Naruto, of all people. I bet every other damn guy in Konoha is writing shit about the hot girl they banged today and how much they scored. I guess that's the thing about being... gay. You always feel like you're the only one until you finally get a partner.

But anyway, after I got off the phone and checked my voicemail, Naruto called me. I saw it on the caller ID, and I wasn't going to answer it, but I did it anyway. He said that before I kicked him out he meant to ask me why my house was such a mess. I told him it was all that being pent up I told him about already, so he told me to sit down and start writing. Like it's going to do any good. Actually, he also laughed and said I was my bitchy old self, reminded me I owed him a favor, then hung up. Damn Naruto, why do you always have to bother me?

Whatever. I just woke up and he's not looming over me, so that's a good sign. I'm sure he's conjuring up something evil or annoying, or possibly both, as this 'favor' as he calls it. I'm sure it's going to be something embarrassing, in which I'll just punch him in the face. I don't even know why I'm going through with this, I should just refuse, and if he starts his whining shit I'll gouge his eyes out. There's nothing I want less than something to come of this... thing, whatever it is. Naruto is Naruto, and no matter what stupid bugs have bitten me I'm just going to have to continue being myself.

My asshole, prickly self.

...And hopefully my demeanor will be the only thing prickly. Ugh, damn genetalia.

* * *

Author's Note: Please please, review!! I need the feedback... I'd really appreciate it. :3

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	7. Errors and Experiments

Chapter 7: Errors and Experiments

* * *

A pencil was put in between the pages in his marble notebook to keep his place as Sasuke closed his journal and placed it on his nightstand. Rethinking the security of his household, especially with Naruto around, he instead decided to place the book inside his dresser drawer. Underneath the underwear. That should keep anyone out.

Quickly, he got up and went into the bathroom adjoining his bedroom, closing and locking the door just in case he had anymore unwelcome visitors. He silently thanked a random deity that it wasn't _this_ particular bathroom he had chosen decimate earlier. After all, what's an uptight Uchiha to do without a mirror to study his extravagant and handsome looks in? Scoffing as his lack of upkeep of his appearance as of late, Sasuke reached over to turn the knob of the shower to 'on'. He let his black pajamas and boxers pool at his feet before stepping into the stream and relishing the feel of the hot water on his muscles.

He let the side of his head hit the shower wall with a soft sigh, smoothing the skin on his face with his hands. He looked down at his genitals quixotically; as if his penis had a mind of its own when dealing with whom one is attracted to. He absentmindedly thought of Sakura, slightly coming to realization as to why she was always so much of an annoyance to him. Sasuke honestly thought that his repel towards her was strictly because she constantly harassed him.

And, it was half because of that, and half because he really didn't notice her in the way she wanted him to.

He watched the soap run down his lithe, pale frame slowly and quietly; not remembering exactly what parts of him he had washed while lost in his thoughts.

As he worked shampoo into his raven hair, he again thought about the difference between Sakura and his other teammate. Gender, obviously; but what else? Surely somebody as anal as Sasuke could have to love something about Naruto besides his looks. He already knew that besides Sakura's breasts there was nothing else that, well, _sort of_ interested him.

Sasuke rinsed his hair and rubbed the offending soapy substance out of his eyes, feeling around clumsily for the shower knob. As he stepped out of the now dripping shower and pulled a towel loosely around his waist, thoughts about what he admired about the blonde wandered around in his mind.

Sasuke put his hands around the dresser knobs and pulled, aiming to pull out a pair of undergarments so he could get dressed. As he shuffled through the drawer, he whispered a curse as something pointy stabbed into his knuckle. He got mad at himself for deciding to hide his journal in that drawer, and for having such a sharp pencil.

His notions of getting dressed were forgotten when he scolded himself once again for having Naruto in his head 24 hours a day. He pulled out the book and flipped backwards through the pages, stopping momentarily to pull up his slipping towel.

"_I guess I like that he's not really afraid to argue with me."_

"_But he can just chew my head off and I can tell him to shut the fuck up and he can tell me fuck you and then tomorrow it'll seem like it never happened." _

Sasuke frowned and fumbled with his towel again, thinking deeply about his words and studying the page as he slowly turned to the next entry.

"_There's something in Naruto's eyes that tells me that underneath that ignorant persona he has, somebody really honestly cares about my welfare."_

"…Somebody honestly cares about me…" Sasuke mumbled softly, looking over the scribbled pencil with interest.

"Well, duh, if I didn't care about you I wouldn't check up on you so often."

Sasuke let out a rather girlish scream and dropped his book on the floor, sending the pencil bouncing towards the offender's feet. He knew it was Naruto, and he knew after this he absolutely had to triple bar his front door. With the side of his fist he slammed closed the dresser drawer, imaginary steam coming out of his ears as he turned towards Naruto.

He threw out an angry finger to point at his teammate and began to yell: **"Why don't you know the meaning of fucking _knocking_, Naruto?!"**

"Well… I, umm… uh, Sasuke…"

"WHAT?!"

"Your… towel…"

The brunette swore he saw a hint of red on Naruto's cheeks before he started whistling and put his hands in his pockets. A small whimper escaped Sasuke's lips, and he slowly looked down to the floor, fearing what he thought he would find.

And sure enough, his unreliable towel had slunk to the floor, collecting around his feet.

He immediately turned every shade of red in the book, hastily picking up the towel and wrapping it firmly around him. This time he decided he would hold it in place. He aimed an angry pout at Naruto, who was scratching the back of his head in mock embarrassment for Sasuke.

"What the fuck did you see, asshole?" Sasuke demanded, the unrelenting male query of 'I hope his dick isn't bigger than mine and I just humiliated myself' running through his head.

Naruto shrugged, refusing to meet Sasuke's eyes.

"We're both guys, you know… it's-"

Sasuke cut him off right then and there, pushing Naruto out of his bedroom and locking the door, mumbling something about how he had to get dressed. He pressed his back against the door and bit at his bottom lip, scrunching closed his eyes as he willed his heart to stop beating so fast.

_Naruto just saw my penis, he just saw my penis, Naruto saw my penis… shit…_

…_why am I getting a hard-on?_

Sasuke rubbed at his temples, not sure of what to do with himself. He wondered what Naruto was thinking, or if he even cared. He did seem like it was no big deal, being that we're both guys and all. Hmm. He quickly threw on some clothes and picked up his notebook and pencil, deciding to put them back on the nightstand. After lacing his shoes and running a comb through his tresses, he gradually opened the door and peeked out, seeing if the blonde was still waiting for him. When he spotted Naruto looking oddly at a random painting on the wall, Sasuke walked out to confront him.

As he stopped in front of the blonde, he tore his eyes from the painting to look shyly at Sasuke, still pink in the cheeks as he was before. His fingers wiggled nervously in his pockets, feeling charcoal eyes burn into his face.

"I'm sorry, man… I guess I should really stop doing that." Naruto let out a nervous chuckle before giving Sasuke a cheshire smile.

He watched Sasuke shuffle his feet with embarrassment.

"You know I was right, stupid."

Sasuke let out a low growl from the nickname.

"We both have dicks, you know. You don't have to be embarrassed; we've been friends for a long time, after all."

"Shut it, Naruto."

Sasuke was very tired of hearing about his genitals. Especially with that fact that he was currently hiding an erection. And since Naruto wasn't saying anything specific about his penis, it was a _big_ erection at that. (Hey, he had to get up his ego somehow, with him not knowing the size of the blonde's penis after all.)

He bit his lip, trying to will his hard-on away, when his eyes wandered to his partners lips instead. He was biting his lip as well, and Sasuke was curious as to…

"Sasuke, about that favor."

Oh, yeah. Naruto held out a tape and Sasuke reluctantly took it. He quirked an eye at him as if silently asking him what it was for.

"I'm going on a mission this afternoon, and I want you to tape a show for me while I'm out."

Sasuke looked at the tape and back at his friend, somewhat relieved.

"This is what you want as a favor?"

"Well, yeah. I won't be able to watch it, and it's a new episode, so… I was hoping you'd tape it for me. I'm assuming with how rich Your Highness is you have a VCR, right?"

With a quick slap to the shoulder, Sasuke already knew things were back to normal. He was right about how Naruto thought, how he wrote in his journal that anything could happen between the two of them and things would always just turn out alright. I guess he really _did_ like that quality.

He snapped back to reality and nodded to Naruto, following behind him as they both walked towards the front door. As Naruto stepped outside onto the porch, he gave Sasuke a lopsided smile, and he knew that it was a combination of a goodbye and an apology for doing what he had done. After learning what show was to be recorded and what channel and time it was on, he lazily waved his friend goodbye, shutting the door behind him.

It was barely lunchtime, and Sasuke could already hear the phone ringing and Sakura's daily messages being recorded on his answering machine. He watched the workers he hired fix up his first floor, before going back upstairs to his bedroom. He threw the tape onto the bed and then sad beside it, pulling out a hidden bag of cookies from under his pillow. Grabbing the remote and turning on his television, Sasuke began to relish in the normality of today and be slightly happy that things weren't going as bad as he felt they were. Well, good enough for Crabby McCrabbypants, anyway.

----------------------------------------------------

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, adding a yawn to the precession. He languidly turned his head to the read, catching his eyes on the red number on his digital clock.

_6:04 p.m._

"FUCK!!" Sasuke shot up in his bed, remembering that Naruto had said his show was on at five o'clock!

"Shit, shit, shit…" He mumbled to himself as he quickly recapped his afternoon, eyeing the tape that was still lying on his bed, albeit underneath some blankets. Sasuke scratched his head and continued cursing to himself, recalling that somewhere about four o'clock-ish the hot cocoa he had drank had probably made him sleepy.

Although it might have been that he went out for some light training as well, but Sasuke was never the type to fall asleep during the day. In panic, he called Sakura. He called Rock Lee. He called his sensei. He called everyone he knew the number too and asked if they watched the show and if they _by any chance_ had happened to tape it.

Nobody.

Sasuke mentally half-scolded himself for going through all of this trouble just for Naruto, mainly because he was never that kind of guy in the first place. But, a favor was a favor. And he said he'd do it. And Sasuke Uchiha never goes back on his word.

About 20 minutes and a half a dozen calls later, the inevitable happened.

_Knock knock knock._

"Fuck! Naruto! Grr, of all the times to actually knock for once…" Sasuke chewed his fingers as he paced quickly around his bedroom, but then deciding there was no use prolonging the wait until Naruto's disappointment, he walked downstairs. He hesitantly and slowly pulled open the front door.

"Yo, Sasuke-teme! Did you like the show?"

Sasuke's mouth twitched.

"Don't tell me you didn't even watch it as you taped it!"

"I fell asleep."

Naruto laughed heartily, letting himself in to plop down on the couch of the newly semi-refurbished living room.

"Aw, come on Sasuke, it could have been **that** boring."

Sasuke stepped in front of the blonde sitting comfortably on his leather couch.

"No, dobe, I mean I fell asleep _before_ I taped it…"

As if coming to a sudden realization, Naruto's face melted into an expression that was a mix of disappointment and anger. He stood up and gave Sasuke a push to shit shoulders, showing that he was irritated at the boy.

"Geez, I ask you to do one favor, and you fall asleep? We had a deal after I won the match, Sasuke."

"No, we didn't. _You_ decided we had a deal."

"But you said you'd do it for me!"

"And I was going to, but I fell asleep! There will be repeats, Naruto."

Naruto folded his arms defiantly across his chest, sticking out his bottom lip in a pout. Sasuke was rather satisfied with himself, but still felt bad... a little bit. He huffed loudly and dropped his arms to his sides, staring at the blonde's pouting... inviting lip.

"You owe me another favor, Sasuke."

He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. Sasuke looked from the lips back to Naruto's eyes, and saw the tiniest hint of genuine hurt. He sort of thought that Naruto should have known he was an asshole and probably wouldn't do it, but with him saying yes and all... I guess it didn't seem too nice to him.

Sasuke's felt his pants grow tighter as he kept lingering his eyes on Naruto's lips, and he cautiously moved a hand to his genital area to keep the other boy from noticing.

Naruto huffed and gave the smallest smile, shrugging his shoulders at his friend.

"I guess it's no big deal. Don't worry about it... teme."

While Sasuke seethed at Naruto calling him a bastard, he inwardly smiled a little at Naruto's passiveness towards the situation. He knew his journal was correct, and that made him the tiniest bit happier, yet still annoyed at having to deal with this situation. As the realization of what he really liked about the other boy came into view, he felt himself struggling with his hard-on trapped in restricting jeans. And with Naruto's lips looking so inviting, it really wasn't helping that much.

He could vaguely recognize Naruto's hand waving in front of his face, as it often did when he became lost in his thoughts. With no coherency whatsoever, Sasuke took hold of the wrist of that waving hand and held it firmly.

"Sasuke?"

He didn't hear his name being called, and he didn't hear Naruto ask 'what the fuck are you doing' when he snaked his other hand to the base of his neck. He couldn't hear Naruto's stuttering, either, when he decided to inch his own face closer to the others.

It's as if his ears were full of cotton, but he could have sworn he heard Naruto whimper as he softly and hesitantly pressed their lips together.

* * *

Author's Note: Ahh! Cliffy! xD Next chapter will be a journal, I'm so eeeeeeeeevil! But I promise I'll follow up on this, don't worry. And don't kill me. ;; Review, please! I must get reviews before I continue. 


	8. November 23rd

Chapter 8: November 23rd

* * *

All hail the King. 

The King of Idiots, the King of Mistakes, the King of Messing Up, the King of Being Fucked Up, the King of Assholes... me.

Uchiha Sasuke, King of All that is Wrong.

I don't know what happened to me last night. I thought I told myself that nothing was going to come between me and Naruto, and I just blew it all out the window. He didn't even _do_ anything, didn't even say anything that could even arouse me and I decide to jump on him like that.

What the fuck am I on? Crack?

Naruto left my house in a huff last night, which was expected after I sexually harassed him without his having a clue about how I felt. I know I said that no matter what happens between us Naruto can just smile it off, but I don't think that can happen this time.

Hence, me being the epitome of **wrong**.

Curse lust, or whatever it is that prompted me to actually kiss that bastard last night. I should have known better, knowing that he's always after Sakura. I should have known he'd have that sort of reaction. Fuck, even if he _was_ gay, there still wouldn't have been a way of knowing if he actually felt that way about me.

When I kissed him, I felt that feeling in my stomach I've been getting. That feeling that I sorta feel like I have to either throw up or shit. So, I'm figuring that this is the 'love bug' crap Kakashi-sensei was talking about the other day.

As he ran out the door babbling, he mumbled that he didn't care about getting another favor, which I kind of frowned about. I took that as one of the signs that Naruto isn't going to want to act normally around me for a while. Normally the stupid ball of sunshine would bug me every second of every day if I owed him something, but I haven't heard from him all day today.

And it's past dinnertime.

In fact, I haven't gotten any calls from Sakura either, which is a first since, well – I met her. It's very strange, and I don't think I like it.

Actually, I do like it. Not having Sakura call me is very relieving. It almost makes me want to turn the ringer on the phone back on. Almost, but not quite.

Part of me wonders what Naruto is doing right now. Is he planning my demise? Secretly wishing for more? Making ramen? Taking a crap?

I also wonder why I'm still hung up about that whole thing of Naruto seeing my dick. I mean, I guess he was right about us both being guys and blah blah blah but still, that doesn't mean I'll be okay with other 'guys' seeing my cash and prizes, okay? Besides, how do I know if I utterly embarrassed myself? Naruto could me packing whale-sized junk for all I know, and how do I know if he was just laughing on the inside? Not that my own penis is small, but still! It's embarrassing, no matter what the circumstance.

And I'd rather not think about Naruto's penis, anyway.

Well, on the plus side, I guess I'm relieved that I almost sorted my feelings out about Naruto. I absolutely hate to admit it, but... nah; I can't say it just yet.

Christmas is coming up kind of soon... I wonder what Naruto is doing? Maybe I should ask him if he wants to spend some of it here.

Yeah, that's great Sasuke. "Hey Naruto, want to spend Christmas with an asshole like me?"

...I guess I just hope things will turn out okay, like they always do.

* * *

Author's Note: Ack, not too good of a journal entry. I'm trying not to make Sasuke too much out of character when I write these. Next, some POV from Naruto! Review, I BEG OF YOU, REVIEW! 

P.S: "cash and prizes" was stolen from Dane Cook's term for genitals. :P


	9. Someone Else

Chapter 9: Someone Else

* * *

Did I space out one day while Sasuke was talking and not hear him confess that he was _gay_? Since when was he gay? 

I don't really know what to think. I keep looking over to my phone, thinking maybe I should call that teme and ask him about what happened, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Every time I think about what he did, I get more and more confused.

_It's as if his ears were full of cotton, but he could have sworn he heard Naruto whimper as he softly and hesitantly pressed their lips together._

_As Sasuke pulled at the base of Naruto's neck to pull the blonde closer, Naruto gave out a loud whimper when he felt his mouth suddenly be crushed hard against Sasuke's._

_He pushed hard at the brunette's chest instantly, almost sending him tumbling to the ground. Sasuke stood, panting and angry at being torn from Naruto. The blonde looked on, silent and confused with a slight blush to his cheeks, but then decided to turn and bolt for the door. Sasuke could swear he heard something about not needing another favor as he ran after his friend._

_But Sasuke did not make it down the stairs fast enough, and stopped just in time so the front door that Naruto slammed could barely miss his face._

He hasn't called me at all, and I guess I didn't expect him to try and apologize or anything. But still, he could have at least explained something to me before... violating my personal space like that! Seriously, I think maybe it's _my_ turn to start writing in a journal before I get as fucked up as Sasuke is.

I've known Sasuke for so many years, since we were together in Team Seven. And all this time, with all the fangirls he has, I would never think he'd actually swing that way. I mean, who takes so long to come out of the closet? Sasuke had just celebrated his 21st birthday! That's nine whole years to decide whether you like women or not. Well, I guess everybody is different...

* * *

"Yes, Naruto?" 

Naruto rolled his eyes at his Sasuke-obsessed teammate before entering her home. Sakura held the door open for her friend with a scowl as he failed to just tell her why he came, instead of indicating that he actually intended to spend some time there.

He plopped down on her couch and characteristically put his hands behind his head, slouching down and staring blankly up at the ceiling. Sakura placed her hands on her slender hips and stared at him, only moving to stand in front of Naruto after a good thirty seconds of realizing that he wasn't going to leave any time soon. She was just surprised he hadn't showed up with imaginary pink hearts over his head.

"Okay, Naruto, I give up. Why are you here?"

The blonde scowled. "Can't a guy feel like hanging out with his friends once in a while?"

Sakura frowned in response, not feeling like 'hanging out'. She was still upset over what Sasuke had done, and male company wasn't what she wanted for the next millennia. She sighed, trying to figure out a way to get back to her alone time complete with brooding.

"Seriously. What's wrong?"

Naruto looked at her with sorrowful eyes, eyes that haven't been bluer since the day he was born. Sakura noticed that. She noticed that whenever the blonde felt sad, or was emotional, his eyes would take on this ethereal deep blue, and it was just amazing.

He let out a deep, heartfelt sigh, sinking his head deep into the couch cushions.

Sakura tugged hard at Naruto's wrist, dragging him upwards and back towards the door.

"Naruto, I can tell by your voice that something is bothering you. I'm not really good with guy problems, okay? Why don't you go talk to Kakashi-sensei?"

Naruto stuttered and gave Sakura the saddest, puppy-dog look he could muster, but she would have none of it. She desperately needed her alone time now, it took a lot of guts to keep from calling Sasuke, and she needed to do it by herself. Sakura didn't do well when she had people (like Ino) badgering her all the time.

She quickly pushed him out the door, hearing him stutter all the way, and went back to drinking the rest of her chardonnay and eating Ben and Jerry's.

* * *

Naruto lowered his hand after knocking a few times on his teacher's door, trying to think of a reason as to why he was actually here. He shivered a little bit when he heard footsteps leisurely approaching the other side of the oak door, realizing at that moment that Kakashi will probably make a crude joke to anything he had to say. Naruto was contemplating leaving to find a different source for advice when the entrance in front of him slid open sloppily. 

To reveal an equally sloppy-clothed sensei.

Kakashi took his hand away from the door to return it to his pocket, his soft gaze unwavering from Naruto's face. The one eye that Naruto could see blinked at him, and Kakashi gently cleared his throat. My, he was patient.

"Hey, sensei. Do you have a second?" Naruto finally spoke up, and after taking a few seconds to register what his student had asked, Kakashi nodded slightly and stepped to the side, allowing the boy to enter.

After slipping off his shoes, Naruto took the time to take in Kakashi's dwelling. He had never actually been inside his teacher's house; he had only seen the outside of it when they would walk home together, as their houses are in the same direction from the training grounds. But now that he was seeing it, he was a bit surprised. Kakashi always struck him as the disorganized type, but his home was adroitly decorated, perhaps with a woman's touch. It was a traditional Japanese home, with a gentle and welcoming feel, and colors that reminded Naruto of a pastel autumn. He delighted at the calm setting sun hitting his face from the rice paper windows, closing his eyes and listening to what sounded like a soft trickling fountain somewhere nearby. In reality, it was quite comforting. He placed a tender finger on the rim of a painting of an oriental landscape, forgetting for a short while the reason he came to this modest household.

He turned to the silver-haired man, who was still standing patiently in the doorway, looking in Naruto's general direction. Naruto gave a small smirk at the fact that he seemed to be studying his own house along with him.

"I guess just because you _look like _a wreck all the time doesn't mean you're house has to be." He said sarcastically, taking a step back towards Kakashi, whose eye had traveled back to his student upon hearing him talk.

"A ninja must always see underneath the underneath!" Kakashi said with cheer, raising his finger matter-of-factly. As a small chuckle escaped his throat, he gave a strong pat on Naruto's back, sending him off-balance.

"So, what brings you here?"

After sliding his door closed, Kakashi walked into his living room and took a seat on a small chair, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. He waited for Naruto to join him, and listened expectantly for an answer to his question when his student finally sat down on the couch across from him.

"I'm not really sure, actually."

"Hm?"

"Well... something strange happened to me yesterday." Naruto shifted uneasily on the couch. He didn't really want to have this conversation with his sensei, and he figured he would say something like 'you're 21 years old, figure it out for yourself!'

"Does it have anything to do with Sasuke, by any chance?"

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask at the way Naruto's eyes widened, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't dare tell his teammate about the conversation they had had on the phone a few days ago. It was just an inkling, but somehow the man knew if Sasuke had just come out of the closet and now all of a sudden the object of said boy's affection had a 'problem' – there had to be some sort of connection.

"Uh... yeah, I guess you could say that. Yeah."

"Let me guess. He lost all self control and gave you a big ol' smacker, didn't he?"

The 'ball of sunshine' lost all his sunshine and nearly jumped out of his seat. "W-what?! How the fuck did you know?!"

"So I was right, then?" Kakashi moved one hand to rest his chin in his palm.

Naruto grabbed one of the soft pillows from the couch and clutched it, burying his face in the supple foam before peeking over at his sensei. His voice was barely a whisper as he answered.

"I don't know what to do."

"Well, did you tell him you weren't interested?"

"No... I just kind of, ran out on him after it happened."

"Naruto, you don't know what to do. Why? Is it because you don't know how to let him down gently? Or because you're afraid of what **you** might be feeling?"

The boy quickly got angry at what the man across from him had been insinuating. "Hey, I don't even know what Sasuke feels, okay? That was just a one-time thing; he never said anything about it or even _why_ he did it in the first place! Besides, it's SASUKE! We've been rivals for all our lives."

"That's not answering the question, Naruto."

The boy quickly face-vaulted, and began stuttering.

"Do you like him, or not?"

"I'm not gay, sensei."

"How do you know?"

He felt the anger growing within the depths of his belly. Naruto quickly stood, glaring daggers at Kakashi, and heading for the door. He was simply furious at the fact that he could possibly assume something like that about his own student. As he muttered a sarcastic 'thanks' and bent over to put his shoes on, he heard one more thing.

"Just out of curiosity, are you still after Sakura?"

"No!"

Naruto slammed the door after the exit, nearly sliding the door right into his fingers. A certain silver-haired man snickered to himself, knowing that his student was now old enough to realize that he had just proved his sensei right, once again.

"You two are more alike than you think, Naruto-kun..."

* * *

The sunshine boy stalked lividly over to the Uchiha's house, wanting to get this straightened out once and for all. If nobody around him was going to give him any help, than he was just going to have to figure this one out for himself! As Sasuke's house came into view, his pace quickened a little bit, and soon enough he was a couple of feet away from the doorsteps. 

But a timid, sweet voice caused him to stop and turn around.

"H-hi, Naruto-kun."

As he spun on his heel, he spotted the source of the sugary voice. He brought a hand back to scratch at his head and sighed.

"Hey, Hinata. What are you up to?"

Her fingers twiddled together naturally. "Well, I just was walking around, and I saw you, and... well.. and..."

Naruto watched as the Hyuuga's face turned redder than a tomato, chuckling lightly to himself, which made Hinata grow even more embarrassed. As he saw the young woman in front of him stuttering, he thought of what Kakashi had said about him and Sakura. He looked at Hinata's timid eyes, and wondered to himself why he never loved her. Or even tried to, considering he knew Hinata was infatuated with him.

But after Sakura, he just sort of gave up...

"Hinata, I kind of have something I need to take care of right now. Can I talk to you another time?"

Hinata shifted uncomfortably and stuttered some words that Naruto couldn't quite understand. He took the opportunity to let his eyes appreciate the girl's womanly figure, but he still just wasn't attracted to her. Never was, unfortunately. He put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, but that only made her feel even more awkward.

Naruto closed his eyes and suddenly became determined, determined to get everything he was feeling and everything that was going on sorted out. He looked at Hinata, and knew how she felt about him, and thought that Sasuke might feel the same exact thing for him.

He pulled Hinata into a hug, stroking her dark hair carefully. He could feel her face grow hotter and meekly return the hug, unsure of herself in every way. Naruto leaned in close to her ear and gave out a whisper.

"Thank you."

A little bewildered, but without having any choice as Naruto let go, she gave a light nod and turned to make her leave. Naruto heaved a heavy sigh and watched the girl go, thinking maybe one day he'll actually go on a date with her. But he also didn't want to lead her on in any way, especially since he already knew what kind of feelings she had.

He slowly turned back to the Uchiha's house, still keeping his eyes on Hinata's back as long as she was in view.

Naruto rubbed at his sore knuckles, he had knocked on enough houses for today. He was kind of upset that it took this many people to even be close to getting any answers. I guess this is what he gets for not going straight to the source from the start.

Suddenly he felt really alone, standing there as night arrived, patiently waiting for the one person that took him Kakashi, Sakura, and Hinata to try and figure out.

* * *

Author's Note: 

1. Spell check changed 'more blue' to 'bluer' (in regarding to Naruto's eyes). I didn't even know bluer was a word. o.0  
2. I originally had Sasuke's age set to 18 in Naruto's paragraph, but then I remembered I had him drinking Merlot in chapter 5 so I'd better make him drinking age. xD Naruto and Sakura are the same age, so that would make Kakashi 35. (To be true to the anime).  
3. Thanks to Obscure Omen for bringing a couple things to my attention that made my story better!  
4. How is my description of Kakashi-sensei's house? It took me forever to write! I tried to stray away from the 'messy apartment with porn everywhere' stereotype he always seems to fall in. Don't judge a book by its cover! (unless its got naked people on it, of course xD) Adroitly - with care, capably

So, how is it? I'm never sure of how good my writing is. ;; Am I going too fast?


	10. November 24th

Chapter 10: November 24th

* * *

I've never written in this journal two days in a row before. I guess that's what I get for invading Naruto's personal space yesterday. It's getting a little depressing. You know – not... having any friends. I never really thought about it when I had Naruto around. 

I guess this is a sure sign that Naruto won't spring back like I thought he would initially.

But, what am I supposed to do now? I can't just go on with my life knowing that Naruto will forever hate me. I've been fucking pulling at my hair all day, trying to figure out why exactly I care if Naruto leaves or stays. I remember writing in one of my first journal entries that I wouldn't give a shit what Naruto did.

What changed, exactly? I'm not sure. I'm not even sure why I'm writing that question down, considering this paper isn't going to answer me. Why can't I just be the asshole I've grown up to be, the fucked-up teenager that wanted to kill everyone? Is it the fact that I'm not a kid anymore? I'm just starting to hate myself, this person I've become. I want to stay unfeeling, to be able to push people away, to be able to act without any inhibitions.

I don't want to have any feelings for Naruto, not because I'm afraid of what people will say, but because I know things will change. I know my life will become different.

Right now, I can see Naruto talking to Hinata in front of my house from my window. I've always wondered if that stupid blonde had ever realized the feelings that woman had for him. She still has them, I can tell; she's never given those feelings up. I've also wondered if Naruto would even go on a date with her if she ever confessed her feelings. I don't know if Hinata would be good for him. She's too quiet.

But hell, who am I to judge? I've never even been in a relationship before. What happens if something fucks up? Would the dobe and I be friends, after that? I'm sitting here talking about relationships and shit and I haven't even spoken to him since it happened.

I'm... I'm so lost. My whole life I've tried to keep up this asshole exterior to keep myself safe from enemies and interferences. I guess it's also my selfish way of trying to protect myself psychologically. I know that one of my goals in life was the resurrection of my clan, and I would obviously need a woman for that. But I've been so caught up in revenge and whatnot that I don't even have a... life.

Then again, Naruto and I are so ambiguous. We argue and fight out of habit every day so I'm not even sure what to expect from him emotionally. I don't even know what to expect from myself.

After writing about the qualities I liked about Naruto, I wondered if there was anything he liked about me. I was also thinking about what he would write about if he had a journal. Probably dumb, stupid shit from that dumb, stupid brain.

I got a call from Sakura earlier, for the first time in a few days. I was actually considering picking up, but then I decided it was probably best not to. When I listened to her message, she sounded like she was drunk, and mumbled something about feeling sick. I'm assuming the alcohol was what was making her sick, but I never thought she would be the type to drink that much. Not that I'm... worried or anything.

Jesus... am I going soft? What's with all the FEELINGS lately?!

And now I'm hearing a knock on my door, and I see Hinata walking away, from what I can tell from my window. Oh God, please have mercy on me and let that knocking** _not_** be Naruto. There's nothing in this world I can't handle besides seeing him right now.

I'm barely holding back the tears in my eyes...

* * *

Author's Note: There you go, journal entry chapter 10! Next, the encounter with Sasuke! Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn! 

I'm thinking strongly about making this diary type story a series. Next up for me would be Kiba. Titles I was thinking up were "Diary of a Neurotic" (too keep up with the 'madman' theme), or "Diary of a Stray" or "Diary of the Alpha Male" (I don't want to use the word 'dog' in the title, staying with his dog-like nature as another theme). Any ideas (for titles, pairings, any at all)? Comments? Flames? Should I even write it? ;; I wouldn't be starting until after I finished this one, of course.

If you have **any** ideas/comments about this at all, no matter how insignificant it may seem, please e-mail me at: inunotama(at)optonline(dot)net

Even if it has something to do with another character! A pairing, whatever! I have some devious ideas in my head already. xP


	11. Ambrosia

Chapter 11: Ambrosia

* * *

Sasuke closed his book and silently put it on the nightstand. He tried to shake off the feeling in his chest, gently rubbing at his upper body through his shirt. Slowly he made his way out of his room, and then down the stairs - taking his time in hopes this visitor would go away. As Sasuke arrived at the front door, he tentatively reached out for the handle and put his fingers on it loosely. 

Meanwhile, Naruto stood there in the darkness, his body bouncing up and down lightly to stave off the cold. As he was about to bring his hand up to try a third knock, the door very slowly opened before him.

Naruto sniffled slightly and took in the sight of Sasuke. His heart dropped only a little as he looked at Sasuke's sleep-deprived eyes; eyes that he could tell were trying hard not to leak. His normally lustrous hair was strewn about messily; his normally neatly pressed clothes were just pajamas.

"H-hey, Sasuke... mind if I come in..?"

Naruto's voice was soft and gentle as he felt Sasuke's glossed eyes look right through him. He brought a pale hand up to wipe his even paler face roughly, stepping aside only enough to let the blonde boy inside. It was even darker in the house than it was outside, and Naruto could hardly see a hand in front of his face.

Grudgingly, Sasuke pulled the string on a small lamp, dimly lighting up the foyer. The soft glow seemed to make the ebony haired boy look even more disheveled, and Naruto didn't know what to do first - so he settled on scratching the back of his neck. Sasuke grew impatient, not to mention a little uneasy.

"What do you want?"

Even his voice sounded pained.

"Well... I just thought we could, you know... talk.. a little."

And for a few minutes they stood there, in the hallway, just looking at each other.

"...About what?"

"You know what about. That... thing that happened yesterday."

Sasuke shifted his weight from foot to foot, his gaze falling to his naked feet. He didn't know what to say, or what to do. What he wanted was to know the _right_ thing to say or do.

"I don't know what got into me. I'm... well, I'm..."

"Sorry?"

A thick silence fell over them, and Sasuke glanced up at him, just for a second.

"Yeah, I guess so." He gave a weak shrug.

"Is that why you look like you're about to cry?" Naruto's voice was so hushed, Sasuke barely heard it.

Was it? Was Sasuke so afraid of what would happen between them, he was _sorry_ enough to cry? Did that even make sense? He didn't know the reason, but Sasuke unexpectedly started to shake, as if he was very cold. He sank slowly to the ground, trembling with no control over himself, starting to sweat and breathe heavily. Naruto stood there, as if he had felt the cold and was now frozen, looking on at Sasuke in front of him. He had never seen his teammate, who always had such a hard exterior, act like this in all of his life.

Sasuke was having a panic attack.

Snapped back into reality by hearing Sasuke's sobbing, Naruto rushed to sit by his friend and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Sasuke... Sasuke, look at me!"

Hesitating for a few seconds, Sasuke slowly brought his head up, eyes searching Naruto's face.

"Tell me what's wrong."

To Sasuke, it sounded more like a demand than a request. But, relaxing a little, he brought his hands from his chest to clasp at his ankles. He sat there Indian-style, and Naruto relaxed to join him before replacing his hands on Sasuke's shoulders. When a minute passed and Naruto was about to ask again, he heard his teammate say something that was almost inaudible.

"I'm a hermit crab."

"..What?"

"I'm a hermit crab, Naruto."

Naruto's next question was cut off when Sasuke elaborated without persuasion.

"My shell... it's gone. I'm not myself anymore. You stole my shell away."

"What does that mean?"

Sasuke moved a hand to clutch at his chest again. This frightened Naruto, and he in turn tightened his grip on Sasuke's shoulders.

"This... feeling I have... right here... it's your fault. You took away my shell. You made me feel... these _things_."

"What kinds of 'things'?"

"You make my stomach hurt. You make it hurt in this wonderfully painful way, like I'm about to burst. Sakura couldn't do that."

Naruto's face deadened. "That's because you hate Sakura."

"I kissed her."

Now it was Naruto's turn to sweat. He had always dreamed of Sakura being his first kiss. **Had**, anyway. He wasn't so sure anymore.

"...I see. Why did you do that?"

"To test myself. I can keep my shell on when I'm with Sakura."

"Sasuke, stop with this 'shell' nonsense. You're a human being, not an animal."

Sasuke looked up at him with the most hopeful eyes, as if he had just been given the greatest compliment in the world. Naruto's world narrowed when Sasuke looked at him like that. It made him feel wanted.

"You think so?"

"Of course I do, stupid. I _know_ so."

"Even after how I've acted?"

Naruto nodded. But, he couldn't stop himself from asking just one more question.

"So.. does that mean that when you kissed me it was also a test?" He could feel his voice shake as he forced those words out of his mouth.

To the blonde's surprise, his friend's answer was immediate. "No."

"No? Then why did you do it?"

Oh, he was really starting to sweat now. What in the world was he getting himself into?

"Are there things you like about me, Naruto?"

_What kind of answer was that?_ "Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"What are they?"

Naruto heaved a sigh and let go of one of Sasuke's shoulders to run a hand through his hair. His eyes shifted around in thought, before landing back on Sasuke's expectant face.

"Well, you're determined, and that's good. You're... a strong fighter. You're also a good friend."

His face regained that hopeful look. "I am?"

"Sure. Well, except when you don't tape my favorite show."

Sasuke's personality seemed to shine through again as humor was brought into the situation. He shoved Naruto's other hand off of him with force.

"It was **one** episode, dobe."

"Yeah well, you don't watch it, so you don't know how good it is!"

Sasuke made a 'tch' sound and looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. He was clearly feeling better, and Naruto guessed that a little bit of sarcastic humor was just enough to lift his spirits. Better than the wreck he was a few minutes ago, at least.

"So, you never answered my question."

Sasuke moved his eyes to Naruto.

"Why did you do it?"

"There are things I like about you too, Naruto." _I can't believe I said that out loud._

"That usually won't bring someone to kiss someone else, Sasuke."

"Okay, well there are things I REALLY like about you. Good enough?" _I'm SUCH an idiot. Just shoot me, right now._

Those words were almost inaudible, but Naruto heard them. "No."

"No?"

Naruto moved his hands to clutch Sasuke's biceps tightly. He took a deep breath, biting his lip in confusion, yet knowing clearly what he wanted to do. Tentatively, he inched his head closer to Sasuke's, gauging his reacting as he moved forward. He could feel Sasuke hold his breath as Naruto drew closer. With a sharp intake of his own breath, Naruto closed the gap between their mouths.

There was no rush this time, no force, no feelings of being unsure. Naruto sighed in his throat when he felt Sasuke push lightly into his touch. The blonde titled his head to fit their lips more perfectly, feeling the warm breath come from Sasuke's nose come in ragged puffs.

Sasuke sighed too, putting his arms around Naruto's neck to practically drape himself across his teammate. Naruto confidently dragged his strong tongue across Sasuke's bottom lip, making the other boy nip at his own lip in return. When the blonde was granted entry into the other boy's mouth, he shifted one of his hands to grasp the back of Sasuke's skull, crushing their mouths together. Their tongues danced erotically to their own beat, with the pajama-clad boy stopping every once in a while to give his partner small nibbles. Sasuke liked to bite; Naruto took note of that.

When Naruto was confident Sasuke was enjoying himself, he took his lips away to replace them on a soft spot behind Sasuke's ear. When a small mewling sound escaped from the other boy's lips, Naruto bit there, seeing if Sasuke liked getting what he had given.

"Naruto..." Sasuke drawled out, gently pushing at Naruto's chest to get a look at his face. He pressed their foreheads together, taking shallow breaths from his nose.

"I... I... Naruto..." His voice was strangled, part of him not wanting to seem vulnerable. Sasuke was still Sasuke, after all.

"You don't have to say it, Sasuke. I think I know."

A small smile tugged at the right corner of Sasuke's mouth and he nodded, which made Naruto's eyes light up at the sight.

It was Sasuke's turn to show Naruto what he could do, and he took this chance to grab Naruto's collar and yank their faces together, ending in a wet and sloppy kiss. Naruto squeaked and instinctively grabbed the boy's forearms firmly. To Naruto it seemed more like an attack; like Sasuke had penetrated his defenses and rendered him helpless. And he did attack - nipping, biting, and sucking on the other boy's tongue. It was driving Naruto absolutely wild.

Naruto decided it was time to finish the journey he had started a minute ago, detaching himself from Sasuke (not without complaint from the latter), only to latch his mouth onto the boy's pale neck like a leech. He continued to drag moist kisses underneath his jaw accompanied by rough licks. He gave a particularly forceful lick when he came across Sasuke's adams apple.

Sasuke twitched a few times, squeaking softly. Removing his hands from Naruto's collar, he hesitated a few seconds, then started to delicately run his fingers along his partner's clothed chest. As Naruto continued his assault on Sasuke's flesh, the fingers on his chest tightened, gripping his shirt. A tan finger moved to unbutton the top button on Sasuke's pajama shirt, tugging the material down to reveal his shoulder. He continued his path of kisses to the collarbone, eliciting more soft mewls, gasps, and yelps.

"Nnn... Naa... Wait..." A rough push sent Naruto sprawling backwards. _Damnit, what is it this time?!_

Sasuke tried to catch his breath, dropping his head forward to clunk it on the other boy's shoulder.

"I want more than just this."

"I thought I already told you, I know."

A choked sob. "I want to hear _you_ say it."

Naruto bit his lip, running his fingers through Sasuke's beautifully soft hair. He never thought he'd have his teammate like this.

"Well... there's things I REALLY like about you too, Sasuke."

Without warning, Sasuke dove with all his might onto the other boy. He attacked the boy beneath him with his hands, drowning the blonde's ears in sobs and cries. Naruto could feel the warm tears soak through his shirt, along with Sasuke's warm hands feverishly touching his skin. But it was Sasuke's next action that made the one beneath him raise an eyebrow.

Sasuke's head followed his hands, tickling Naruto's belly as he wiggled his head underneath his shirt. He stopped to rest his cheek against the soft tummy beneath him, wiping any leftover tears away before wrapping his arms around the blonde's back.

Naruto looked down at the giant bump underneath his shirt. It was so. Fucking. CUTE.

Sasuke was burrowing into Naruto like a little kitten, and it made Naruto's heart jump. As he was about to say something, he heard Sasuke mumble something sleepily.

"This feels safe. Much better than a shell. It's warm in here."

And Naruto grinned, and that grin turned into a soft smile. He propped up on his elbows, and Sasuke whined slightly at the movement, which was just adorable. He chuckled, making his stomach bounce up and down, and that earned him a gentle bite to the rib.

_Who knew Sasuke could be so endearing?_

And neither Naruto nor Sasuke saw the pair of emerald eyes staring at them intently through the window.

* * *

Author's Note: Eek, chapter 11! I hope you liked it, with the SasuNaru action. :D Took me a while, but I got to it. :P Review, please! 

But I still have some gripes about this chapter: 1.) The hermit crab thing, which I knew I was going to tie in with the first journal, isn't as appealing to me as it was at first. When I first wrote it in this chapter I thought it was pretty good symbolism, but now I think it's just stupid.  
2.) I know (or at least I think) Sasuke is so terribly out of character, but I tried so hard to make this believable. Please forgive me if you don't like the way he is portrayed. It was an attempt to portray the 'madman' in him, hence the title. And besides, he's the uke in this story. :D  
3.) Also, I think sometimes I write so much in detail, it ruins my writing. Is my description of the make-out too... descriptive? Does it take away from what they're actually doing?

I purposely avoid saying what Naruto's favorite show is because I have no idea what it would be. And, I got the idea of Sasuke's adorable snuggling from what I used to do when I first started dating my husband. xD That's when I was still shy!


	12. November 25th

Chapter 12: November 25th

* * *

Naruto wanted to stay the night, but I told him not to be such a presumptuous bastard and get the hell out of my house. He swore up and down it was only because he wanted to be sure I was feeling alright. I told him I'm a big boy and I can damn well take care of myself. For fuck's sake, you'd think he actually thought I loved him or something. I never said that. 

After bigmouth left, I decided just to go straight to bed instead of writing in here because I was really really tired, even though it was only about eight thirty. Which is why I'm writing in it now. I also decided that I was just going to leave my journal in the desk drawer in stead of in with the underwear. The last time I put it there, things didn't turn out very well.

Fuck, I just spilled some of my coffee at the bottom of the page. Damnit!

I was thinking I should call Kakashi-sensei and tell him what's been going on. I'm sure Naruto wouldn't have told him anything that happened; he's too full of himself to admit he's gay. Or bisexual, or a flamer - whatever. But it's like I said before, he only pretends he's paying attention. Usually, he just tells me later that he forgot about our conversation. What a loser.

Speaking of being gay, I guess that means he doesn't like Sakura anymore. And boy, will she have a fit when she finds out she has even less of a chance with me than she had before. Shit, she'll have no more options! That just makes me laugh. She's such a conceited bitch. I do wonder about Hinata, though; if she finds out the guy she's been secretly pining for her whole life is gay, she might just kill herself. Or at the very least, go into a coma. Naruto should look into that.

I'm wondering if Sakura will call me today. It's still pretty early, so she might be asleep, but I haven't heard from her since that day. I'll send Naruto to go check on her later today, considering there's no way I would actually try and make her feel better. I could honestly care less, but I know Naruto likes her and all that.

Yeah, so does this mean Naruto's like, my bitch? Haha, now that I know he's at least a little bit attracted to me I can have him wrapped around my finger. Although... I did kind of say that I would treat him more like a human being. I also kind of said yesterday that I wanted more than making out. I'll have to think about that. ... I need to find someone to talk to who's had experience in relationships.

I'm so new at this damn 'people' business. I don't know how to, you know... 'woo' someone and all that crap. I think it's bullshit that I even have to show that stupid blonde I care about him, anyway. Who says I have to do that?

Alright, well I know I'm contradicting myself after everything that happened yesterday, but I can't help it. When Naruto's around I just kind of... start to melt, in a way. I feel so defensive about my sexuality, even about Naruto, but when it's actually him I'm talking to I feel like I'm not the same person. Which is probably what I was talking about when I was jabbering about that hermit crab shit.

God, if anyone ever reads this... I'm knee-deep in shit. I guess I wouldn't hide it if anything ever came of me and Naruto. But still, it would be VERY awkward if anyone knew about our sexuality. As far as everyone else knows, Naruto still has a crush on Sakura. But on the other hand, if she knew that he was gay, maybe she'd stop treating him like shit every day of his life.

I guess I will call Kakashi-sensei later today or stop by or something. But right now I'm concerned about finishing my coffee and get some breakfast.

I wonder if Naruto will try and talk to me today... I'm interested in seeing what he has to say.

* * *

Author's Note: Bleh, journal chapters are hard to write. But as I promised, I always try to update them as close as possible to the regular chapters. Next chapter will be a two-parter. 


	13. A Few IllFated Circumstances: Part 1

Chapter 13: A Few Ill-Fated Circumstances – Part 1

* * *

Sobs echoed through the house as Sakura cried endlessly into her pillow. There she lay, with mussed hair and wrinkled pink pajamas, similar to how Sasuke looked the night before. To her left lay an empty pint of chocolate ice cream, and the "It's a Wonderful Life" DVD menu replaying itself over and over on her television. 

She was hurt. She was confused. Even more so than she had been when she was on that date with Sasuke. Sakura wasn't even sure how long she'd been awake crying.

She rubbed at her eyes, reaching over to grab a tissue from her nightstand. Sasuke hadn't received any messages from her in days, and he sure as hell wasn't going to get any now.

She whispered to herself questions she didn't know the answer to, getting up from her bed and disposing of the ice cream container and a bunch of used tissues. After taking ample time to get dressed, Sakura plopped down on her bed and contemplated what she should do next.

"Well, let's see... Naruto and Sasuke were all over each other, yet I saw Hinata walk away from Naruto just minutes before hand. Could he have been letting her down gently...?"

There was a pause in her speech to herself as she considered what she was saying, that this was perhaps a new thing and Hinata had just found out herself. After all, why else would they be talking and hugging like that? Unless they're together and Naruto is cheating... Nah, he wouldn't do that.

Right?

Finally deciding what she would do to get to the bottom of this mystery, Sakura stood to make her leave toward her new destination.

If she couldn't figure it out, she was going to go straight to Hyuuga Hinata herself.

* * *

Haruno Sakura is a curious girl, and although her original mission was to first go to Hinata to find out what was going on, she couldn't help wanting to go to Sasuke himself after walking past the Uchiha manor. Although she had just said to herself earlier that Sasuke didn't deserve any contact from her, secretly it was what she wanted. 

Her eyes started to well up, and the sadness of the whole situation once again started to consume her. But, being Haruno Sakura, she walked bravely up to Sasuke's door and gently knocked. She was vaguely hoping she knocked lightly enough so he wouldn't even hear it. Maybe she wasn't so brave after all. After a minute passed, she knocked again with more force, but still she heard nothing from the other side. So she decided to test her courage and tried to open the door herself.

It was unlocked.

Sakura slid open the door slowly just enough to peek inside. "Sasuke?"

Nothing. There were no lights on, and every door in her view was closed, except for the bathroom. She walked in, sliding the door closed and taking a few steps toward the staircase.

"Sasuke, are you home? Hello?"

Grabbing the banister, Sakura softly treaded up the stairs, incase Sasuke was asleep. Upon reaching Sasuke's door she became nervous, hearing her heart pounding in her chest and wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans. She suddenly felt hot, taking off her sweater and hanging it over her right arm.

Inside the room, Sasuke's bed was empty. Along with the adjoining bathroom.

Sakura looked around with a confused face, mumbling to herself. "Where would Sasuke go without even locking the front door...?"

She looked to the left, her eyes suddenly falling upon something out of place. The desk drawer was slightly open, and that was very unlike Sasuke. He was a neat freak. Walking over to it, she pulled the drawer open a little further, her eyes lighting up at what she saw.

His journal.

Sakura grabbed the book, tossed her pullover onto the bed and then dove on it herself, flipping it open to the first page. _Heehee, Ino will be so proud of me for this!_

As she speed-read and started turning to the later pages, her mischievous smile started to dissipate. Sakura read more and more about how Sasuke was _happy_ that she wasn't calling him anymore, and it seemed to her that with every passing entry he seemed to realize his feelings for Naruto more and more. She tried to combat the sudden urge to rip the horrid book in half; but she just decided to put it back down where she found it.

Sakura did this to herself. She saw it last night, and she should have known that that was what was going to be in the journal.

It was just false hope.

She got off the bed in a very zombie-like way, closing the door smoothly and pushing herself down the stairs. As if a robot, she silently walked out and closed the door behind her. If Hinata didn't already know what was going on... she definitely had to be let in on this new secret.

* * *

"Does Hinata know about this? She'll, like, go into a coma." 

"I know. I was thinking the same thing."

Sasuke leant there stoically against Kakashi's pale yellow wall, watching his teacher lounge on the couch wrapped in a blanket and tapping on his wine glass. His eyes scanned idly around the house, sighing afterwards to separate the thick silence.

"Nice place you got here." Sasuke drawled out, pulling up his too-loose jeans at the butt to pull his pant leg out from under his foot. He went to sit next to his sensei on the couch, relaxing.

Kakashi yawned. "Yeah, so I've heard. ..You're pants tracked dirt on my white carpet."

"Eh." Sasuke scratched at his pectoral muscle through his body-hugging shirt, heaving another sigh. It seems our brunette friend doesn't know what size clothes he wears.

_Nah, I just know what makes me look damn good. Wait, aren't we having a crisis?_

"Sensei… do you think we're being too calm about this?"

"No." The older man was now leaning his head back against a pillow. "Being gay is a perfectly reasonable thing to explain to Hinata and Sakura. As far as I can remember, it was only them who had the feelings, right?"

Sasuke averted his eyes to the ceiling. "Mm." He swished around his glass of Californian Merlot, slightly miffed that Kakashi didn't have _French_ Merlot. Picky, picky.

"So, don't worry about it. Hinata might have some problems coping, but if they flip out, what can you do? Pretend not to be gay?"

"I guess you're right. But it's not just them."

The last statement caught Kakashi's attention, and his head turned to look at the side of his student's face. He pulled his blanket as close to him as he could with one hand, mentally reminding himself to turn up the heat in this cold weather. He slowly took a sip of his own glass, wondering why the hell he was even drinking it at 10:30 in the morning. The man's silent stare was enough to will the boy to continue.

"I want to revive my clan, sensei."

This was spoken almost inaudibly, but the other man heard it and instantly came to realization. Sasuke wasn't afraid of ridicule, he wanted a _family_.

"Well… I don't know, Sasuke."

And now, Kakashi knew. Because alcohol always helps in times of tragedy.

* * *

_bang bang bang!_

"Hinata-chan! Hinata-chan!"

As Sakura continued pounding on the Hyuuga compound door, she couldn't hear the footsteps that were approaching on the other side. When the door opened, she nearly bashed her greeter right in the head.

"S-Sakura-chan, are you alright? I could hear your screaming from in the-"

Hinata was cut off as her visitor grabbed her by the arm and dragged her violently out of the house. They ran toward the woods across the path from the Aburame compound, running until only trees were in sight and Hinata grew tired.

"Sakura... what is going on?" Hinata heaved in and out trying to catch her breath, her face flushed. Sakura sat on a rock carefully, also breathing heavily. Waiting until the other girl was seated across from her on a log, Sakura continued.

"What did you talk to Naruto about last night?"

Hinata's eyes went up in thought for a second. "Well... nothing, actually. Why?"

"Naruto went to visit Sasuke last night."

Hinata shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with the statement. Wasn't it common for friends to visit each other?

"I saw them together."

"Sakura-chan, where are you going with this?" Hinata was not amused, nor happy at being abruptly ripped from her house. But she heard the girl across from her gulp and start to sweat at the brow, whilst also biting her lip. Hinata raised an eyebrow at her, growing curious.

"What I mean is, they were... making out."

There was a very pregnant pause.

"W-What did you just say?"

Very suddenly and to Hinata's surprise, Sakura grew frantic very quickly.

"I don't know! I mean one day I'm on a date with **Sasuke**, whose only the hottest piece of ass ever to grace this earth, he asks me to do him a favor then kisses me because he's the biggest jerk alive, then a few days later he's playing tonsil hockey with Naruto and I'M ON THE OTHER TEAM!" Sakura sank back onto the rock, burying her face in her hands.

"He must not like the Islanders, then."

"You are NOT funny, Hinata."

The pale-eyed girl chuckled to herself, but only she knew that it was simply a façade to hide how broken she was inside. She would go home and cry her eyes out, cry for days and days on end, but never would she show any of this to a woman who had as big of a reputation for gossip as Ino. Her fingers lightly clutched at her pants, trying her hardest to stop the tears from falling until she got home.

"So they aren't going to choose either of us then, right?"

Hinata looked at Sakura with hopeful eyes, thinking maybe she was joking - maybe she was just pulling a prank. But when the cherry blossom looked back at her with the same emotion, she knew it was very true. Their lips quivered in sync, thinking about themselves, about what they had lost.

But in reality, they hadn't really lost anything. Sakura couldn't lose something she did not have to begin with. From the very start Sasuke's love was not with her, and the same thing with Naruto. There can be no loss in something that was never given to them, something that was one-sided - it was the loss of hope that saddened them. The thought that maybe one day, they _would_ get a chance. That maybe their feelings would finally be returned to them sometime in the future... but now, they knew it would never happen.

And so, they decided that there was no use trying to hold in their tears until they were in the privacy of their own homes. There was no use, because both of them knew that they shared the same pain. So they cried together, Hinata and Sakura, until the sun was no longer in the sky.

And when they eventually returned home, they felt that the isolation of their bedrooms and comfort of their pillows was enough to make them cry even more.

* * *

When Sasuke returned home, it was with Naruto in tow. He had finished his visit with his sensei, but didn't bother to mention to Naruto what they had talked about. In fact, he felt no obligation to tell the blonde anything that happened at all. 

He was more concerned with discussing with him if they were actually... boyfriends now.

As they slipped off their shoes, there was a definite tension in the air. A tension that screamed for resolution, for answers as to what really happened, and what they really were to one another. After Sasuke had a battle getting his pants to untangle from his shoes, they silently and calmly walked up the stairs, planning to lounge in Sasuke's room. It was more comfortable up there, and the brunette was all for being comfortable right now when they were about to discuss something very awkward.

They stepped into his room, Sasuke pulling off his jacket and tossing it on a chair, heading for the bathroom. Naruto followed suit and tossed his jacket on the bed, hearing peeing noises coming from the adjoining room.

But as Sasuke stepped out of his bathroom, he stopped in his tracks and noticed his blonde friend had a very disapproving and evil look in his eye.

"Does this belong to Sakura?"

Naruto was holding a very dainty cashmere sweater between his fingers, letting it dangle in front of him.

"I found this on your **bed**."

The Uchiha could hear the acidity in Naruto's tone. But he simply raised an eyebrow at the boy across from him, taking the fabric out of Naruto's hand and looking at it with intensity.

_What... the fuck?_

And he looked up into those blue eyes, not knowing what the hell to say. Hell, technically they weren't even together; but I guess if you just made out with another guy you wouldn't expect to find women's clothing in their bedroom...

But that wasn't enough for Naruto.

"Well?"

* * *

(Tidbit: I changed the rating of this story to M, there's a little too much cursing)  
Author's Note: Guh, I have been so sick :/ I hope you like this chapter. What will happen next :D Lots of drama in this chapter.

I wish I could draw well, because I would _totally_ draw a fanart of what Sasuke looked like in the clothes he was wearing that day. xD I have the perfect picture in my head, and I can draw somewhat, but definitely not well enough to show anyone what it would look like. :P Also, Sasuke also likes Merlot a lot, the French kind, because he's a snooty bastard.

This post and the next post is the last chance to give me your input on who Kiba should be paired with. I need to start thinking of a good plot in a reasonable time frame after I finish this, so please give me your choice soon. You can pick from (but not limited too, these are just the ones I think might go best): Naruto, Hinata, Shino, Shikamaru


	14. A Few IllFated Circumstances: Part 2

Chapter 14: A Few Ill-Fated Circumstances – Part 2

* * *

Sasuke raised a confused eyebrow at the boy across from him, not knowing exactly how to respond to the matter at hand. He muttered a few 'uh..' sounds, shoving his empty hand in his pocket and looking at his feet shuffle.

"I... I don't fuckin' know." Sasuke answered, in a slightly amused tone.

"What?"

"I mean, idiot, I don't know."

He studied the article of clothing, sniffing it in a way that made Naruto look at him with a strange expression. Sasuke shrugged and threw the sweater on to the floor. He honestly couldn't say anything - he didn't even know what the hell was going on.

"Maybe she was here while I was out."

"Sakura wouldn't do that." Naruto said matter-of-factly, crossing his arms about his chest.

"Well I sure as hell don't own a pink sweater, stupid."

"You're lying to me."

"I'm lying that I don't own a pink sweater?"

"You had Sakura here."

Sasuke sighed in defeat, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a BlackJack. He pressed a few buttons and held the device up to his hear, urging someone to pick up quickly as he could hear Naruto growling. After a handful of the longest rings Sasuke thought he ever heard, a familiar voice said 'hello' on the other line.

"Were you here while I was out?"

Naruto took a step forward expectantly, hooking his thumbs in his pockets.

"I see. Well, I'm asking because I found a sweater in my room. I thought it might be yours."

Sasuke played with the hem of his shirt, glancing up at Naruto every few seconds. Not being able to hear her end of the conversation was killing him.

"Uh-huh. Right. And what the fuck were you doing in my room?"

Blue eyes slightly widened at Sasuke's new-found anger. There was a long silence from Sasuke as he listened to the other end attentively.

"I left my door unlocked?" A pause. "That doesn't matter; don't come in my house unless you're invited."

Sakura's rambling was cut off as Sasuke took the phone from his ear and quickly hit the 'end' button. He dropped the object back into his back pocket, growling to himself before looking around the room to make sure everything was in order. After assessing his surroundings, he turned back to Naruto.

"Apparently I left my door unlocked and she took that as an opportunity to wander around my house without permission. Are you satisfied?"

Naruto smirked, stepping forward.

He stood before Sasuke, snaking an arm around his waist and putting a hand in his butt pocket. He gave the Uchiha a saucy grin before he spoke huskily into his ear. "These pants are too big on you."

Sasuke's eyes closed halfway and gently rested a calloused hand against Naruto's lower back, slowly pulling himself flush to the blonde.

"Mm."

Naruto moved his head up to his partner's and kissed the soft spot under his ear, which earned him a very soft sigh. He continued to gently give attention to Sasuke's jaw, before moving back and hovering his mouth over Sasuke's. The brunette nipped lightly at Naruto's lower lip before pressing his mouth fully against the other pair of lips. Naruto subconsciously crushed their bodies closer together by pushing on Sasuke's butt, which in turn caused the brunette to grasp Naruto's shirt.

Naruto grunted airily when Sasuke's kisses suddenly became feverish, connecting and reconnecting with his mouth savagely. He snuck his hand on Naruto's left hip and moved his other hand from his back to his right hip, tickling Naruto's skin underneath his shirt. Sasuke became dominant and ran his thumbs over the other's abs, making Naruto stumble under the forceful gestures and kisses coming from his partner. Sasuke let out a growl when he felt his butt be squeezed, moving to suckle and lick sloppily at the neck. Naruto's breathing became erratic, moving his other hand to slip it underneath the back of Sasuke's shirt.

Nails dug into the Uchiha's back when he licked at Naruto's collarbone, deciding at that moment to shove him onto the carpeted floor. He straddled the blonde's hips and used his strategically placed hands to push his shirt up under his arms. He bit and kissed at the fox's abdomen, feeling it rise and fall which each strained breath. A tongue swiped across one of the ribs, making the body under him squirm with delight.

"Sasuke... what..."

"Hmm?"

Sasuke stopped his ministrations to crawl up the body, looking inquisitively into blue eyes.

"I... can we..."

"Can we what?"

A blush crept across Naruto's face. "Are we... together?"

A short moment passed, and Sasuke let a small grin grace his features before giving a small nod. He planted a rough kiss on the lips below him to prove his feelings, his statement - to show that he meant that he wanted to be together.

And that kiss, that assurance gave Naruto a new spark, using the fact that Sasuke was on top to his advantage. He joined his other hand to Sasuke's rear end, pressing down whilst simultaneously grinding up with his hips. The boy above him hissed in a breath, grunting and nearly tearing the shirt off of Naruto's body. He licked at the nipples, and received an erratic thrust in return. He loved it, these responses he was getting for his actions. He could feel the growing erection press against his thigh, and he smirked at his victim below, beautiful and sweaty at the brow.

And he just smirked, thinking of all the naughty things he was about to do to his prey.

* * *

Sakura flipped her cell phone shut, dropping it onto her bed.

"Shit... how could I be so stupid...?"

"That didn't sound too good."

Hinata sat on Sakura's bed, curious as to what was going on. Soon after they had gone to their separate homes, they decided that seeking solace in each other might help them get over this easier. Sakura slammed her face into the pillow and Hinata heard a very aggravated grunt. After a few punches to her mattress, she tilted her head to the side and looked into Hinata's eyes.

"I left my sweater at Sasuke's house."

"Oh, Sakura..." A gentle hand touched Sakura's shoulder.

"I guess I should go and get it before he gets any angrier at me."

"I'll go with you. Having company will make you feel better."

The Hyuuga heiress tugged on her friend's arm, a small smile on her face. That was Hinata - no longer as shy and timid (except when it came to Naruto), more of a wholesome woman. She had filled out in the more sensually appealing places, much to the liking of the other shinobi in Konoha. Of course, some of her shyness still remained when it came to the opposite sex. But at least Sakura knew she had a friend who was stable-minded and sure of her morals.

And Sakura really needed help with her moral standings in this situation.

She was yanked up from the bed and patted on the back in assurance, pulling down her wrinkled shirt. She looked over Hinata in her lavender, hip hugging dress with matching jacket.

"I wish I was as pretty as you, Hinata."

"Sakura! Don't say that, you're absolutely lovely! And I don't think your appearance can change the sexual preference of a person."

The cherry blossom sighed in defeat, pulling out another light sweater from her drawer. She didn't understand it herself how she managed to leave for home without her sweater, as it was November and she should have noticed it was quite cold out.

Unfortunately it had taken at least another hour and a half to coax Sakura to even step foot outside her house. Once they were finally on their way to Sasuke's house, the sun had already dipped past the horizon, and Sakura's steps became slower. She was still rethinking this idea to go to his house again, for fear of something terrible happening. Hinata mirrored her thoughts even though it was her idea in the first place, not wanting to face Naruto if he was in there too. As they stepped onto the patio and looked at the door, Hinata gave Sakura a look of determination. It wasn't such a big quest, hell - it was just to pick up a sweater, but this would be the first time she had seen Sasuke since the little incident.

Hinata was the one to knock. She was also the one to knock a second time.

After waiting for about ten minutes, she suggested that they open the door just a little bit and yell inside. Sakura, after being reprimanded for her actions already, said that was a very bad idea.

She banged on the door this time, and a few seconds later heard feet running down the stairs. Those feet practically flew to the door, flinging it open with such force it nearly fell right off of its sliders. Before either of them even had a chance to speak, a pink piece of fabric was tossed angrily at Sakura's head. She caught it and looked wide-eyed at who she believed to be Sasuke.

A Sasuke that was covered in hickeys on his neck and all over his chest. A Sasuke that was panting quite heavily and whose hair was considerably mussed, and was wet in places from something that looked like saliva.

A Sasuke that was holding up his unbuttoned and unzipped pants at the waist to keep them from falling down.

Hinata squeaked and covered her eyes, trying not to look at what seemed to be Sasuke's lack of any underwear. He also seemed a little.. intoxicated, stumbling and using the door frame to balance himself. Sakura couldn't help but blush a deep crimson.

"There's your fucking... f'ing sweater, now go th'hell away and stop bothering me!"

When the door was slammed shut in their faces, the visit was over just as soon as it began.

Sakura clutched at the object between her hands, trying her hardest not to let the tears spill over her swollen eyes. A harsh, choked sob escaped her throat, and she brought the sweater up to her face to hide quivering lips. Hinata looked on, eyebrows furrowing together in discontent. She pulled at the pink shield at Sakura's face, taking the material into her own hands.

"Sakura, please don't - what... is this?"

Sakura saw the disgusted look on Hinata's face only for a moment, focusing her eyes on the same thing Hinata herself seemed to be looking at. Hinata slowly pulled her hand away from the article of clothing, rubbing her fingers together.

"It's all... sticky."

The pink haired girl leaned over to look at her sweater, seeing a few white, wet looking spots scattered about. Sakura's eyebrows rose, and Hinata brought her palm up to her face to smell it when...

"Hinata, don't touch that!" Sakura whacked the offending material out of Hinata's hands. She grabbed the Hyuuga by the wrist.

"We need to go and get your hands washed, now."

"But Sakura, your sweater!" She exclaimed, looking behind her as they started home.

"I don't want it anymore, Hinata. Just... don't put your hands near your face until we get back to your house."

_Those sick fucks..._

* * *

As the morning sun peered through the cracks in the blinds, the inhabitants of this bed were reminded that a new day had come. Although no intercourse was had that night, both had fell asleep in a heap of limbs, exhausted from exploring each other and learning very interesting things about human anatomy.

Interesting things that included many, many boxes of tissues, of course.

It was Naruto who surprisingly awoke first, sucking in a harsh breath at the light burning through his eyelids. He sat up languidly and pulled the covers around him as much as he could, as Sasuke was currently being a horrible blanket hog. Holding his head that throbbed horribly, he looked around the room hoping to find that bottle of water he pulled from the refrigerator last night.

From his view on the bed all he could see was the empty Merlot bottle Sasuke had downed quite impressively, a generous amount of empty beer bottles and some clothes here and there.

Naruto always thought Sasuke was an 'early to bed, early to rise' type of guy. He guessed that rule didn't hold true with circumstances such as these. After trying (and failing, with some smacks to his arm) to wake his bedmate, he sighed in defeat and swung his feet over the bed. Oh, how his genitalia ached. If there was anybody that was definitely skilled in sexual art, it was Sasuke Uchiha. You'd think he'd went to college for it or something.

The blonde used the restroom, put on some clothes, and decided to tidy up the room before His Highness awoke and started to bitch.

He picked up the bottles first, tossing them in the garbage. He neatened up the room as much as he could, which took him about fifteen minutes, until he heard Sasuke stirring. The fox looked up as Sasuke rolled over to crack an eye open at his new boyfriend. Naruto was quickly awarded with a pillow thrown at his face.

"Get the hell out of my house. We're not close enough yet for you to stay for breakfast in the morning." He rolled back over.

Naruto smirked and climbed on the bed, trailing kisses down Sasuke's spine.

"But I can make eggs or pancakes or anything you like." He whispered into the Uchiha's ear before giving it a lick.

"Mmm... okay." The brunette grumbled, "Make me an omelet and you can stay, dobe."

Another gleaming smile was planted on Naruto's face, standing up and gathering the clothes to put them in the laundry bin. As he threw them in, a thought crossed his mind. He went through the clothes in the bin, and when he came up empty handed, he turned back to his boyfriend.

"Sasuke, where did you put Sakura's clothes?"

A yawn. "I gave it to her when she came over yesterday."

"...Was that who was at the door?"

"M'yeah. Hinata was there too."

Naruto gulped loudly and sweat formed on his forehead. "And you... gave it to her?"

"That's what I said. Now be quiet, I'm going back to sleep."

"Um, Sasuke... do you remember what we did with that sweater yesterday?"

Sasuke heaved a very annoyed sigh, sitting up straight and looking at the blonde. He paused in thought, scratching at his bicep. After a few seconds, the 'I want to go back to sleep, it's Sunday God damned it' look vanished from his face. His eyes grew, and when the initial shock of remembrance was over, he let out a hearty laugh.

Naruto, however; was mortified. In between laughs, the other boy spoke.

"Damn... I hope Sakura's sense of style can match colors with-"

"Sasuke!!" Naruto screamed, cutting him off throwing Sasuke's pillow back at him.

* * *

Author's Note: I know, disgusting humor. Heehee, and you all thought I didn't have a plot device with Sasuke's clothing. :P Shame shame! Yeah, I know about all the grammatical errors - they're in there on purpose for dramatic effect. This is definitely rated M now, because of the content and language.

I'm sorry for the kind of late update. I've been so sick with who knows what and have been sleeping a lot. Anyway, this chapter was so hard to write. I kept getting stuck at different places. I hope you like my description of Hinata.

Don't forget to vote on your pairing choice for Kiba.


	15. November 27th

Chapter 15: November 27th

* * *

I can honestly admit to myself that the past two days have been the best two days of my entire life so far. 

Yesterday, when Naruto told me about what happened with Sakura's sweater, my sides felt like they were going to split. I don't ever remember laughing that hard.

And looking back, this is really the first positive entry I've ever written. I guess that's what happens when you decide to share your life with a person who's almost always in a good mood. Although, he wasn't very happy when he realized that Sakura will probably never talk to him again. I tried explaining to him that I was juiced out of my mind when I answered the door, and if I was in my right mind I probably wouldn't have given it to her like that. In fact, if I were sober I probably wouldn't have used her clothing as a cum rag, either.

But hey, everything seems funny when you're hammered, doesn't it? It was pretty funny to Naruto when I gave the sweater to him and told him it was his turn, I'll tell you that.

He told me that he was going to try going over her house and explain, but he's been stalling. I think deep down Naruto knows that there would be way more to explain than just her clothing when he got in the door. Sakura would be asking questions up and down about his sexuality and what he was doing at my house. I told him just to tell the fucking truth, he shouldn't give a shit who knows about our relationship.

He just shook his head and left my house. A very small part of me feels bad, but I tried explaining myself, and he'd have none of it. Besides, I don't have to explain myself to anybody. It's my life and I'll do whatever the hell I want.

If Naruto has a problem with that, he can find another boyfriend.

I guess I shouldn't say that, because Naruto really seems like he cares about me. I don't know how he feels because I never really... had any friends. But I still don't think he should have any fear telling anybody about his sexuality.

Haha, but if I had to go up to somebody and say 'hey, sorry I blew a load in your shirt', I'd be pretty embarrassed too.

Kakashi-sensei called me late last night after Naruto went home to talk to me about the things that have been happening. He told me that Hinata of all people showed up at his house and wanted to be educated on the birds and the bees. He had all these perverted questions, and no matter how much I tried to tell him that we didn't have sex, he wouldn't have any of it. He reads too much porn.

I should probably call Naruto and ask him where he took Sakura's sweater, because I found it on the porch, and now it's gone.

* * *

Author's Note: Really short, but I think it shows the point. Next chapter... will be a complete surprise! I'm sorry in advance if it's a little late, I have a cumulative collage final next weak and have started a new job. Ja! 


	16. Conflicts and Intermissions

**(I'm updating this early because I had two days off from work and I worked my ass off so this wouldn't be late. I won't have that luxury anymore. Again, sorry in advance if any chapters after this are late. Enjoy.)**

Chapter 16: Conflicts and Intermissions

* * *

The bed made an unpleasant sound as Sasuke flopped gracelessly down on his stomach. He reached out for his cordless phone, hitting the 'talk' button and dialing Naruto's phone number. He rolled onto his back as the other line rang, and it rang many times before Sasuke was greeted by his answering machine. He hung up, defeated and not bothering to leave a message. 

Hopping up from the bed, Sasuke pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a tee that read "Kindness is Contagious, Get the Fuck Away from Me" which he knew that Naruto would frown at as soon as he saw. Sasuke figured if he wasn't home he'd be at Ichiraku's, so he combed his hair and started down the stairs.

He didn't make it down two steps when he heard a knock at the door. Sliding down the banister the rest of the way, he made his way to the door and slid it open.

"Well, speak of the devil. I was just about to go find you." He said cheekily at the blonde hunk before him.

"Hey, Sasuke." A pause. "Nice shirt, you retard."

Sasuke was inwardly laughing so hard he thought he might actually let it out. Stepping to the side, he allowed Naruto to enter and closed the door.

"That's almost as retarded as the 'The Only Time I Don't Want Head is When I'm Pouring a Beer' shirt you had on yesterday." Naruto rolled his eyes.

Sasuke on the other hand, smirked.

"Yeah, and it was funny, because it was the truth." The brunette said heartily, slapping his partner's ass with force, then pinching it.

Naruto jumped, rubbing his butt after he let go. "That hurt, you asshole."

They both chuckled, and dark eyes moved to a neatly folded item in Naruto's hand. Naruto followed his eye movements, deciding to explain himself before Sasuke asked any questions.

"It's Sakura's. I... washed and folded it, so I could give it back."

"I don't understand why you care so much about it." Sasuke said, crossing his arms. "You thought it was funny when you were drunk, and so did I, so just let it go."

"It wasn't fair to Sakura and Hinata. Especially Sakura... we shouldn't have done that to her."

"We were HAMMERED, you idiot! How were we supposed to know what was the right thing to do?! Besides, knowing how infatuated she was with me she probably doesn't accept the fact that we're together. Just let it drop."

"No!!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at the sudden outburst, looking at Naruto's eyes gloss over with tears.

"What's wrong with you, dobe?"

"I... I don't want Sakura to hate me."

"Naruto, we're faggots. She's not going to like it, okay? This is just something she's going to have to deal with, whether you apologize for what we did or not."

"She doesn't have to know."

"What are you talking about? She knows you were here, and she saw what I looked like. She already knows about it."

"I can tell her it was just my fault. I can tell her... that we didn't do anything." Naruto rubbed at his eyes with his free hand, thinking idly about all the good times him and Sakura had when they were little.

The Uchiha was getting pissed. "You want to lie about our relationship?"

"I still want to be her friend, okay?!" Naruto exclaimed, trying to defend himself.

"And I'm saying, Uzumaki, that she's not going to except our sexuality because of her feelings towards me, besides the fact that she's always found you annoying!"

Naruto tried hard to hide how much that last remark stung.

"Then I'll LIE! I'll fucking hide it even if I have to distance myself from you in front of her!"

The blonde was grabbed by his collar and hoisted up, only to be thrown to the ground.

"Who the fuck is more important to you, Naruto?! Sakura or me?!"

"Sasuke, I-"

"Are you sure you're gay? Are you _fucking_ sure? Because you're definitely acting like that stupid bitch is way more important to you than me!"

"Don't call Sakura a stupid bitch!"

Naruto let the captive tears fall from his eyes. He looked up, seeing that Sasuke was holding back some himself. He watched as his boyfriend went to the door and slid it open.

"Then fucking leave, go visit your girlfriend and confess your undying LOVE for her-"

"Sasuke!"

"-Go fucking tell her that she's so important to you and I don't mean a God damned thing to you at all-"

"Sasuke, please..." Naruto covered his ears, Sasuke was now screaming so hard his voice was hoarse.

"-Tell Sakura that you're so fucking straight you're a God damned arrow and it certainly **wasn't your asking that got us into this relationship in the first place**!"

"Just STOP!"

Naruto stumbled to his feet, walking slowly over to Sasuke, who was so livid his stare was burning holes in the wall. He took in a shaky breath and tried to speak.

"Listen... I-"

"Get out."

"You don't understand..."

"Oh no, every word was crystal clear. I said, **_get out_**."

Naruto winced, both recalling the harsh words he had said to Sasuke, and the sharp pain mixed with tenacity in Sasuke's voice. When he stood there for too long, the Uchiha shoved him roughly out the door, whispering something before slamming it closed behind him. The blonde banged on the door, shouting the name of the one he loved over and over again, 'till his voice and his fist could take no more. He rested his forehead on the cool, finished wood.

_...You make me wish I never left my shell._

There was no answer.

* * *

The walk to Sakura's house felt painstakingly long, the road seemingly narrowing forever. Naruto's eyes were glued to the gravel he was treading on, not wanting anybody around him to see his eyes as swollen and bloodshot as they were. Even now, droplets hit the pebbles like sparse raindrops with every step. 

But he was soon brought back into reality when he bumped right into something hard, muscled even... a chest, a very naked chest. Before stumbling back, a pair of strong hands caught his shoulders.

"Whoa there! What's the matter with you, canary hair?"

He looked up into a pair of lively brown eyes.

"...Kiba?" He quickly lowered his head to its original position when he remembered the state he was in.

"Hey, hey... what's wrong?"

Naruto shyly glanced up once more, only to settle for studying the way the other boy's tan torso matched with the black of his un-zipped leather jacket. _Isn't he... cold?_ He could not feel Kiba's eyes looking at the object in his hands.

"Does it have something to do with Sakura?"

He couldn't control the tears after hearing her name again, and he dipped his forehead to rest on Kiba's upper body as his cries escaped. Naruto could hear the leather gloves on Kiba's hands faintly squeaking as he started to rub his hands down the blonde's back, in an attempt to soothe him. He felt the boy's claws barely raking his skin.

"Where's... Akamaru?"

"He's at home not feeling too well. Don't change the subject, Naruto. Here... let's sit."

He was guided to sit on the ledge of a fountain he had passed only a few feet ago. Instinctively, the mutt pulled on Naruto's shoulder to let the boy's head lay in his lap. Naruto sighed, perhaps in comfort, turning his head to rest his ear on Kiba's leg. As he looked down the road that went back towards his house, his gaze drifted back to his friend's pant leg and he wondered why he always chose to dress himself in animal hide.

"Naruto? Are you listening to me?"

Oh, right. The crisis and stuff. "What?"

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"It's... complicated."

"I know all about complicated!"

Naruto looked up, and he didn't know why, but seeing his good friend bear his fangs in a bright smile just made him feel all warm inside. Like he could actually trust someone. That was something that he really needed at the moment, because he felt like he definitely wasn't ready to face Sakura yet.

"Kiba... have you ever had any relationships?"

"Mhm." A hand started stroking blonde hair.

"What was it like?"

The Inuzuka raised an eyebrow, thinking that someone with Naruto's looks must have had some kind of relationship by this time in his life.

"Well, both people have to work hard to stay together. A relationship is about compromise and trust, and definitely fidelity."

Naruto studied Kiba's eyes. "Did someone cheat on you?"

There was a long pause before he could answer, "Shikamaru."

"What?! With who!?"

"...My older sister."

_Ouch._ "I'm sorry."

"Are you in a bad relationship, Naruto?"

Naruto's hands involuntarily clutched the sweater in his hands. He closed his eyes and situated himself more comfortably about Kiba's lap.

"No, I just don't think I know what my priorities are." He drew in a deep breath, reassuring himself that he could trust this man, but still only being able to speak in a very small voice. "...Sasuke and I just got together, but I made the mistake of telling him that I'd lie about our relationship to keep my friendship with Sakura."

Dog-boy smiled. "There is an old saying, Naruto. It says that 'If you love something, let it go – and if it comes back to you, then you know it was worth loving in the first place.'"

The blonde abruptly sat up and clutched Kiba's shoulder with his free hand.

"Are you saying I should break up with Sasuke?!"

"No, stupid! I'm saying that I know Sakura means a lot to you. So just tell her the truth, and knowing her, she'll stay quiet for a few days to cook. Then, if she decides she wants nothing to do with you, you'll know that she was false to begin with and it's not worth the trouble of trying to save the friendship."

Blue eyes looked to the ground, letting all of the advice sink in. He contemplated his next move, torn on what to do next. He felt that powerful hand on his shoulder once more, and turned to see a very serious stare in the mutt's brown eyes.

"Just to tell you, Naruto; nobody really looks up to her anymore. She's been sleeping around ever since Sasuke refused her years and years ago. When she heard Shikamaru cheated on me, she went out of her way to tell me that she'd had a one night stand with him by drugging his dinner. I wouldn't put it past her to drop you without batting an eye."

There was hurt quickly rising in Naruto's eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but the other boy quieted him with a gloved finger to his lips.

"Just think about Sasuke. He's the one who loves you, right?"

As Kiba removed his finger, Naruto opened his mouth to speak once more but stopped when he saw that his friend's nose twitch. After a few seconds, he too also smelled something very familiar.

The profound scent of cigarette smoke - coming from a certain Nara Shikamaru. What perfect timing.

"Well, that's my queue to get out of here. Remember what I said, canary hair." He turned to leave, but then turned back, snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah, before I forget... watch Sasuke closely, Naruto. I'm serious. Sakura is obsessed with him. Now that she has an idea of what's going on, she might try something drastic. I'm warning you ahead of time."

With a friendly punch to the shoulder, Kiba got up and bolted away as fast as he could, leaving 'canary hair' to scowl inwardly at the Nara who passed by. He always thought Shikamaru hadn't changed over the years besides the smoking, hell; Naruto still saw him playing Shogi on a normal basis. But if Sakura had pulled it off, maybe Hana had drugged him too.

"...How could I not hear those things about Sakura?" He whispered to himself, confused.

Naruto shrugged off those thoughts, furrowing his eyebrows and letting determination cross his features. He tried not to let any more uncertainties enter his brain, even though what Kiba had said was kind of deterring him from speaking to Sakura about the situation. He walked, almost marching to Sakura's house.

He rang the doorbell, shaking a little. He absentmindedly noted that she seemed to be the only one in this neighborhood to have a doorbell.

No answer.

After ten minutes, Naruto realized that she wasn't home. Sighing, he leaned his back against the door.

_Shit, what now... wait, what's that smell?_

He sniffed around; it seemed to be coming from inside the house. Whatever it was it smelled chocolatey.

_Mmm, brownies! I wonder if she'll share with-_

When he realized that Sakura had make food and is currently not home, he thought back to Kiba's story. He reconsidered it; it was just a coincidence that Kiba had told him that right before he came to her house. She wouldn't do that to Sasuke.

Would she?

* * *

Author's Note: Oh no, DRAMA! And... Kiba! Told you there would be a complete surprise! I hope you liked this chapter; I brought in a brand new totally made up Kiba (considering this is technically AU and I wanted to make them my own original older characters). Call it practice for the next one. Mmmmm... leather. 

And, my Lord, I'm making Sakura such an evil whore in this story. (I never really liked her. Go ahead, bash me. ;)

(Sasuke's shirt sayings © T-Shirt Hell)


	17. November 28th

Chapter 17: November 28th

* * *

How dare Naruto fucking do that to me. How dare he- after HE was the one who asked to be in this relationship- make me feel like there is someone else in his life more important to me?! I have never even remotely made him feel that way, it's only been three days and he's already insinuating that he doesn't want me anymore! 

What the fuck?

Is it because I'm too much of a prick? I reiterate, it's been three fucking days and he expects me to try and change who I am with a snap of the fingers? Yeah right.

I understand that he cares about Sakura. I understand that they're friends, and I don't care about that, Naruto can be friends with whoever he wants to. But I also know about Sakura and her reputation, which I also thought Naruto knew about. If he does, I have no idea how he can continue to put her on a pedestal like that. Sakura has wanted me since day one of Team 7 and it's always been that way. Naruto knows she's going to hate _him_ way more than she could ever hate me, and that she'll probably start spewing out extremely nasty things to him.

Part of me... doesn't want to see Naruto get hurt. I don't want him to hear those malicious things thrown in his face.

But hell, what should I fucking care anyway? He's choosing Sakura! He already proved to me that she's more important by saying that he'd rather pretend I don't exist when she's around. Not that I'd ever tell him this, but that really... stung. It hurt me.

I never thought of Naruto as that kind of person. I always thought I was the prick, and now I don't know what to do.

It's only been two hours. Two hours since I kicked him out of my house, and I'm already worried. What if he doesn't come back? It hurts because he was the first and only one I ever tried to open my heart to. The only person that ever made me feel the way I do around him, and he just stepped on it. He stepped all over it, with his stupid obsession over that _whore_.

Seriously, who drugs somebody else's boyfriend so they can fuck them? Okay, there are a few things wrong there. First of all, who in their right mind would drug someone with those kinds of intentions? Second of all, he was already dating someone. And I truly... felt really bad for Kiba then.

And I actually somewhat felt for Shikamaru too. He may have wanted to repair the relationship they had, may have felt guilty or tried apologizing for what he did with Hana... but Sakura had completely decimated that dream. That was the first time I had ever seen any Inuzuka depressed.

I don't want my relationship with Naruto to turn into a dream. I don't want it to turn into something I can never have again. But if he can't prove to me that I'm more important than Sakura, there's nothing I can do.

Heh. Hey, maybe Nara had a good idea when he picked up smoking.

Why does Naruto have to be so stubborn? Why does he have to crush my heart this way? Naruto... I think...I...

* * *

Author's Note: It's an early chapter! Hooray for weekends! (And the husband working late so I can do this XD) An image of off deviant art has given me a wonderful idea for the next chapter. :D 

Two things: 1.) I feel like this story is losing it's edge. Less reviews, less page views... I get discouraged, but don't worry to those who like this story, I will finish it.

2.) My 3rd anniversary with my husband is the 18th, what should I get him? x.x


	18. Stupefied

Chapter 18: Stupefied

* * *

Sasuke's nostrils flared up at the sweet smell that entered them, walking towards his front door that had been knocked on only moments before. He sniffed the surrounding air continually as he slipped his door open, only to grunt irritatingly at the woman who stood in front of him.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" By the tone of his voice, he was clearly exasperated. He looked down at the plate of treats in her hand. "You're not planning to force feed me brownies like you tried with the apples, are you?"

The girl vaguely recalled that time in the past. She shuddered, putting on the sweetest face Sasuke had ever seen, he thought he might vomit.

"Actually, Sasuke; I felt bad for what I did and I decided... that I might make you something nice." She added and bowed, holding out the plate of brownies. She looked up at the boy with glossed over eyes.

He let out a sound that was a mixture of a sigh and a grunt, slowly and hesitantly stepping aside to let Sakura in. He was almost about to complain that this was against his will. Sasuke himself didn't understand why he was letting this girl in her house in the first place, considering for a moment that Naruto had made him go soft. _Damn, whatever happened to saying 'I'll never talk to you?'_

As Sakura clicked her high-heels in small steps towards his kitchen, the brunette noted that she was wearing a rather, er, _short_ pink miniskirt with tight leggings (it was November, she must've been cold), and a pink and mesh top with a rather plunging cowl neckline. She spun around after putting the plate on the counter, sauntering back towards Sasuke and grabbing his wrist.

"Come on, I want you to taste them! I made them just for you!" God, her sweetness was killing him.

"Let go. I'm not hungry. Have you seen Naruto?"

She scowled, not letting go of his wrist and forcefully dragging him towards the kitchen. Although she was irritated about having Naruto brought into the conversation, she once again spoke with innocence.

"Oh, Sasuke, you're so silly! I made them just for you!"

"Sakura-"

"Please? Pretty please?"

He shouldn't be giving into this, he shouldn't be pleasing somebody he didn't even like. Somebody who he hated. Damn Naruto. His shirt sayings definitely weren't working to keep the damn kindness away. He'd be nice to her for now... for Naruto.

She scooted the plate closer to him and he obliged, taking a treat from the plate and devouring it in two bites.

"These are actually not half bad." He said surprised, popping a second one into his mouth.

"I'm so glad you like them!" She crooned, clasping her hands together.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, chewing his brownie fully and swallowing. Taking a third, he flicked the plate away and started walking away from the pink-haired girl to sit on the couch.

"So what did you really come here for?" He inhaled the chocolatey confection.

To his dismay, she came to sit next to him on the couch. He tried scooting over. She just followed.

"Can't I just bring you something to eat as an apology?"

"That is the sorriest excuse for an excuse I ever heard." He made another attempt at scooting away. "What's the real reason?"

Sakura took a glance at the clock on the wall. _Just a few minutes..._

"Excuse me, Sasuke; may I use your bathroom?"

Sasuke bared his teeth in annoyance that she ignored his question. He pointed in the vague direction of his bathroom. She smiled and stood, making sure to sway her hips dramatically on the way.

* * *

"Goddamnit Sakura - what the hell is taking you so long?!" The Uchiha was furious and impatient; she had been in the bathroom almost fifteen minutes. He'd gotten up from his seat on the couch, pounding on the door with his fists.

"I want you out of my damn house... now..." _It's kind of hot in here..._

Sakura emerged as if on cue, watching Sasuke stumble as he no longer had a door to lean on.

"I apologize, I wasn't feeling too well."

"Yeah, well I'm tired'a... wai-...waiting for you..." The Uchiha wiped the sweat from his brow, steadying himself on the wall beside the door.

"SASUKE!"

She knew that voice. Sakura whipped her head around to see Naruto burst through the doorway and run fullspeed towards her. She shoved Sasuke hard on the chest, causing him to fall backwards onto the floor. She heard a very faint cracking sound as his head hit the wooden floorboards.

"Get out of here, you idiot! You're ruining my plan!"

"You're...plan?" Sasuke grabbed his throat, his voice already faltering. "You dr'gged me... din't you?"

The blonde rushed to Sasuke's side, picking up his head and cradling it gently in his arms. He looked up at the cherry blossom and scowled viciously, bearing his teeth.

"Get out of this house. You are nothing but a bitch - a dirty whore, a fucking skank, a lying piece of shit that deserves nothing to do with us. I'm sorry I ever tried to stay friends with you."

His words were precise and hoarsely spoken, cutting into Sakura like knives. His blue eyes spoke of nothing but disgust, burning into her skull.

"Yeah! Get.. hell outta my house you.. you... yeah s'what I said."

"You're nothing but an annoyance, Naruto! I'll have Sasuke, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Tears were pouring from her eyes despite her attempt to seem strong. She kicked Naruto hard in the chest from his position next to Sasuke, sending him back a few feet. She then attempted to dive on top of him, Naruto catching her by the wrists as she fought to harm the blonde. They struggled, fighting for dominance in the situation. Sakura managed to get in a hard slap to Naruto's face.

"Don't... Naruto..."

Sasuke was failing, his senses were dulling as he reached out and grabbed Sakura's ankle, pulling her with all of the strength he had left. She yelped as she hit the hardwood floor, landing next to the one who pulled her. Even in his dazed state Sasuke was able to pull his body up along with Sakura by her collar.

He punched her in the face as hard as he could.

"You're so... g'damn... fake bitch... all fake..."

He stumbled, coughing violently as Naruto watched the girl stand.

"You don't know anything! You two should just go on being fucking GAY with each other, see if I care! I'm tired of acting nice and leaving you messages and trying to get you to love me, if you want to get a cock up your ass, THAT'S FINE WITH ME!"

And Sakura stormed out, teardrops falling in time with her footsteps. Sasuke cringed at the noise as Sakura slammed the door shut behind her.

"Sasuke!!" Naruto shook himself out of the shock, rushing over to Sasuke's side and once again holding his head gingerly in his lap. He noticed that the Uchiha was bleeding at the back of his head.

_Oh shit!_ "Sasuke, can you hear me? Sasuke!"

"Nn... yeah?"

"Don't fall asleep, Sasuke. Try to stay awake." Naruto was trembling; he knew that falling asleep when one had a head injury was bad news. Even if it was only minor, as in this case. Sasuke managed a chuckle from deep within his chest.

"I'm... drugs..." His eyelids fluttered, he smirked. "I can't... stay 'wake..."

Tears from Naruto's eyes splashed onto the brunette's face.

"I'm sorry Sasuke. I'm sorry for what I said." He spoke in a voice that was so small.

"Hey."

"...Yeah?"

"Don't.. w'ry 'bout it... I - I still..."

"Sasuke?" He shook the boy in his arms, scared out of his mind. Somehow, he felt as if Sasuke wasn't going to wake up after this. Tears traveled down his cheeks in abundance now, clouding his vision. "**Sasuke!!**"

"I.. still..."

He shook him again, but with no answer. Naruto laid his head on the brunette's chest, and with that, he was out like a light.

* * *

"He'll be fine. Don't worry, Naruto."

Kakashi took his hand from Sasuke's forehead, who had been put into his bed after he had passed out. Naruto paced nervously around the room, thinking whether or not he should have called a real doctor.

"When will he wake up?"

"Well... I'm not sure. I know from study that these kinds of drugs can last 12 hours, but it might be longer with the head injury he has. Although," he gently tilted Sasuke's head to the side to inspect the wound, "it's not that serious."

Sitting at the foot of the bed, Kakashi looked at Naruto very seriously with his one visible eye. "You're very lucky you came back in time before Sakura could do anything."

The blonde shuddered at the thought.

"Do you think she'll try again?"

"From what she said according to you, I don't think so. What perfect timing from Kiba, you should thank him, you know."

Naruto nodded. "You know, I wasn't planning on coming back after we fought. But I just couldn't let Sakura do something like that..."

"Because you love him? You know you would've come back eventually."

Naruto smiled brilliantly. "Kakashi-sensei, how do you know everything?"

"Those books I read aren't _only_ porn, you know. They do have some plot to them."

The laughed together, then as if they were sharing thoughts, both turned to glance at the young man asleep in the bed. Kakashi didn't know everything, and they both were a little worried. Naruto sat next to Sasuke's head, brushing bangs out of lidded eyes. Even though he was drugged, he looked so serene sleeping there, and he even chuckled when he re-read the stupid sayings on his shirt.

"I think I should have a talk with Sakura."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you going to say?"

"What do you think? I'm not going to let one of my old students get away with things like this. Besides, now that remember it, I want to ask her if she was the one who put Hana up to sleeping with Shikamaru."

"Geez," Naruto chuckled, "he's not _that_ attractive, is he?"

Kakashi didn't follow suit with laughing. In fact, he was not amused at all. "I want to know what's gotten into the girls in our village lately."

"Good luck."

* * *

Kakashi stood, completely dumbfounded, in the center of Sakura's living room. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, he was positive he had to go home and clean out his ears. Sakura lounged calmly on her couch, periodically dabbing away the tears that fell from her eyes.

"Is that all you wanted to know?"

There was long pause.

"..Why would you do something like that?"

"Because Hana liked Shikamaru, and she deserved him more than Kiba did."

"And what exactly did you bribe Hana with to make her sleep with her own brother's boyfriend?" Kakashi was getting angry; he expected the young people in this village to grow up to be respectable human beings. Instead they drug each other and sleep with other people's boyfriends and girlfriends.

She just shrugged. "It wasn't hard. She was homophobic, anyway."

"You do all these horrible things, how can you be crying? You don't even deserve to be upset, honestly." Only this old man could stay calm while at the same time being insulting.

Sakura, on the other hand, grew enraged. "Because I **_love_** Sasuke! He was taken away from me!"

"You don't love anyone, Sakura! If you loved him you wouldn't have _drugged_ him!"

"Kakashi-"

"He's gay, Sakura. No matter how much you love him, he'll never love you back."

She gave up arguing, burying her face in the arm of the couch. She sobbed louder than Kakashi had ever thought possible. She was confused, she was lonely, and it seemed that rendering men senseless was the only way she'd get attention. Kakashi didn't know what to do. He was still pissed at her, but at this age and this point in her life, there was no way to convince her that this wasn't the way to try and be loved.

"Why can't you just try finding a relationship the normal way?"

"Nobody wants to go out with me..."

"That's probably because they're afraid you'll rape them. Your reputation is well known, you know."

That just made her sob even louder, and Kakashi gave out an exasperated sigh. She was never going to be happy unless she had somebody pay attention to her.

"You know, I heard through the grapevine that the Hyuuga boy was making eyes at you." _I'm tooootally making this up_.

"Neji? Really?" She looked up, hope in her eyes.

"Yeah." _No, I'm lying through my teeth._

"You think I should say something to him?"

"I think if you do, you should be nice, and not try to drug him, okay?" _And make sure not to mention my name at all._

She ran to him, hugging the daylights out of him. Kakashi mentally slapped himself for making up something like that using someone as stubborn as Neji. He just hoped to god that the Hyuuga found her at least a little attractive, or he'd have a whole new problem on his hands.

"I promise."

She ran out the door, and Kakashi let out a long breath. Maybe he had done a good deed if things turned out right, and there was no harm done to Sasuke.

_Perhaps some good will finally come of all this mess..._

* * *

Author's Note: I'm sorry if Sasuke's 'drugged' actions weren't accurate, but I've never seen anyone under those circumstances so I just had to guess. xD And wow... how did Sakura get so evil? The plot bunnies made her so, I guess. :P

Stay tuned.


	19. November 28th, later that night

Chapter 19: November 28th **- Later that night**

* * *

_Dear Sasuke's Diary, _

_Hey, this is Naruto. I just want to say thank you for listening to Sasuke. I want to say that you've brought out this side of him that only I have had the pleasure to see, a Sasuke that seems like his troubles are finally leaving him. I don't think I've seen him this relaxed in the entire time I've known him. _

_Also, I'd also like to write a prayer. _

_Whoever is up there, if there is a heaven, please don't let Sasuke leave me now. Whether it be in life or in a relationship. I worry because of the drugs combined with his head injury. He's been tossing and turning periodically, but when he falls back asleep his breathing is shallower than I've ever heard. After the blood dried and was washed off, the wound was worse than Kakashi and I had thought. Please, please don't take Sasuke to heaven tonight, or put him in a coma. I'm not ready for that. _

_I know I'm asking a lot right now, but please help Sasuke forgive me for what I've done. I know that he told me not to worry, but I'm still afraid that when he wakes up, he'll decide not to forgive me. Our relationship that had just started to grow shouldn't be taken away. How will I survive, then? I already know I don't have Sakura to fall back on. _

_Please give Hinata a long lasting, loving companion as my distant way of apologizing for never being attracted to her. She needs someone who will love her in return._

_And make sure to punish Sakura thoroughly for what she has done. Well, don't quite punish her I guess, give her somebody who will realize she is just misunderstood. Then you can punish her._

_One more thing, God, or whoever you are. Please give guidance to Kiba and Shikamaru. I know they are meant to be together. When Kakashi came back after his meeting with Sakura, he told me that his suspicions were right in that Hana had been bribed to sleep with Shikamaru. I'm positive that with the right information their bond and trust with each other can be repaired._

_I'm going to sit by Sasuke's side until he wakes up. I'll sit by him for days if that's what it takes to make sure he is alright. I don't know why he's become so important to me, but I'll be damned if I let him leave my life in this way, if I let Sakura be the one to end our life together. This Uzumaki does not let this happen to the people he cares about. Although I guess it was my fault in the first place that he got into this situation. _

_I hope you answer my prayers. _

_Thank you again journal, even though you're not a living thing, you definitely helped Sasuke a lot. He's a better, happier person now that he has something that will listen to him fully. Besides me, but sometimes I don't always listen. _

_Sincerely, _

_Uzumaki Naruto _

--

He closed the notebook and placed it on the nightstand where it usually resided, leaning over to look at Sasuke's sleeping face. He thought about how much Sasuke meant to him, how he'd gladly give his life for this one person, and Naruto whispered this to him.

* * *

Author's Note: Wow, some of the reviews for the last chapter were very interesting. :P I have one thing to say here: 

I'm shocked yet awestruck at the amount of people who feel bad for Neji! xD I can't tell if it's because of the way I personified Sakura in this story or just because of NejiSaku in general. I just want to say that I don't support this pairing, it was just something that popped into Kakashi's head to make Sakura feel better. Don't fret my loves; I have something cooked up for the next chapter that is sure to make you smile!


	20. Everybody's Different

Chapter 20: Everybody's Different

* * *

There was a harsh, yet hushed yelling into a certain blonde's ear. He felt strong, very strong hands shaking him. 

"Naruto, wake up!"

_I'm awake, I'm awake... I'm watching Sasuke, can't you see? ..So tired... _

"Wake up and get off the floor, Naruto! Sasuke's waking up!"

Only those words were needed for Naruto's eyes to open, and he sat up. Shaking his head out of his stupor, he realized that it was Kakashi that had been shaking him. He should have known. Scrambling to his feet, he held onto his ex-sensei to steady himself. Within a second he was beside Sasuke at his bed.

Both Naruto and Kakashi looked on as the Uchiha stirred, hissing under his breath as he brought a clumsy hand to rest at the wound on his head. Obsidian eyes slowly opened, blinking as the light stung his pupils. Naruto spoke hesitantly and quietly.

"How do you feel, Sasuke?"

"Like shit, asshole. What the hell happened?"

"Do you remember anything?" Kakashi had said, interrupting Naruto.

"Well... I remember that Sakura had brought me some food, and that she was taking a long time in the bathroom. Something about being drugged, and I vaguely recall some fighting with Sakura and something else... other than that I'm pretty blank."

"I hope you at least remember me telling off Sakura."

"No, I don't."

Sasuke was bitter, and they could tell that his mind went blank before he said Naruto would be forgiven. He wished he could replay how he stood up for their honor in front of Sakura.

"I... told her that she was a bitch and I was sorry that I tried to stay friends with her. I also told her she should have nothing to do with us."

He could've died at the smirk Sasuke gave him then, it gave him a brand new hope for the future. He let one single tear of happiness slide down his cheek as he felt Sasuke lightly take his hand.

"I wish I could have heard it." There was a pause, and a gentle smile. "You whooped her ass, I hope."

"No, you were the one who punched her."

"I did? Damn, I wish I could've at least remembered that part."

God, Kakashi was so proud of the both of them he thought his smile was going to crack his head in two. He stood there silently watching the two look at each other in the way that you knew they were in love. He helped Sasuke sit up when he told them rather angrily that he wanted to go outside. As they helped the Uchiha out the door, Naruto explained everything that happened. Soon, Kakashi had spoken his relief and said his goodbyes, leaving the two sitting on the ledge of the fountain that Naruto and Kiba had sat on and shared life stories.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you come back to my house after you said what you did?"

Sasuke's words were still groggy and slurred, but he understood what had been said. "Because... I don't think I could have lived with myself if I just let us grow apart, just like that."

"You were still an asshole."

"I know. You don't have to forgive me if you don't want to."

"You told her off, didn't you? I think that shows that you deserve to be forgiven. It takes a strong mind and an even stronger heart to be able to give up on someone like that. Even if you consider what she had done."

"Thank you." Naruto planted a kiss on his temple, giggling slightly.

"What's so goddamned funny?"

"You're voice is shifting, and it's amusing to me."

They sat there poking fun at each other, each secretly relishing the normality of being normal, acting normal, living a normal life. Naruto would whisper sweet words to his partner when he would rub at the back of his head in pain, and in turn, Sasuke would tell _his_ partner to shut up when he tried to apologize too many times.

As the Uchiha gave a weak punch to Naruto's head, he heard a familiar ringing coming from the blonde's back pocket. Reaching for his cell phone, he hit the green button and pressed the device to his ear.

"Yeah?"

_"Naruto, you'll never guess what I just saw." _It was Kakashi.

"Oh please Kakashi, tell me what you just saw." Perhaps it wasn't necessary, but he was overly sarcastic. Damn Uchiha was rubbing off on him.

_"Well, I told Kiba what I found out from Sakura. They must have spoken, because it seems that I saw him and Shikamaru together in the park just a few minutes ago." _

"You're kidding! Those two haven't spoken to each other in at least a year... do you think they'll get back together?"

_"It seems that way to me. After all, from what I can see from this tree Shikamaru seems to be kissing him quite desperately." _

A smile that was about a mile wide spread across Naruto's face. The bit his lip and cast a loving glance at the boy beside him.

"That's one of the best things I've heard all day. Thanks."

_"The best news come from the best ninja. I'll call you back when I get details from Kiba." _

"Don't be a pervert!"

_"Gimme a break, Naruto. I have Icha Icha in my pocket to keep me occupied." _

The blonde opened his mouth to clue Sasuke in, but the words got stuck in his throat when he settled his eyes on something beyond Sasuke's head. The brunette didn't bother to ask. He turned his head, raising his eyebrow at the scene.

Rock Lee was currently on his youthful knee proclaiming his youthful love to Sakura, with a youthful bouquet in his hands. The two could practically see the sparkles radiating about Lee's head, Sakura squeaking in delight.

"Since Lee seems to love you so 'youthfully', does that mean I can go?"

Sakura took a break from her squeeing to turn to Neji, who was currently bound at his wrists and wearing a collar and leash.

"Oh, Neji! I'm sorry, but it seems that Rock Lee loves me more than I ever could have imagined! I enjoyed our date, though."

The Hyuuga nodded his head quickly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and muttering to the cherry blossom how it was his time to leave. She unhooked his chain and cut the ropes on his wrists, raising her eyebrows strangely as Neji dashed away faster than she had ever thought possible.

Naruto leaned towards Sasuke's ear. "Do you think he knows about what she's done in the past?"

Sasuke didn't take his eyes away from the two a few meters away. "Knowing Lee, he probably doesn't really care."

They watched as Sakura swooned and tears poured dramatically out of Lee's eyes. After a few minutes of sap, they turned around and decided that they would get diabetes if they watched any more of this. Naruto opened his mouth again to explain his phone call, but as they looked up to fix their eyes on the sunset in front of them, there stood a particular Inuzuka. And even more surprisingly, a certain Nara stood beside him.

Kiba's face glistened at the tears he had cried. Shikamaru stoically took a long drag off of his cigarette. He hadn't gotten a call yet, so Naruto figured they hadn't talked to Kakashi since they met in the park.

"Hey." Naruto said simply, not wanting to stir any emotions by asking questions.

Kiba wiped at his face. "I see you took my advice."

Naruto merely blushed as Sasuke put a still-weakened arm around his shoulders, nodding.

Turning his head, Shikamaru blew smoke out of his nose and out of the way of their faces. "Long time no see."

It was discreet, but Naruto could see the slight smile pulling at the corners of Shikamaru's mouth. He tried to hide it, but the blonde could also see the hand he had in Kiba's back pocket.

Sasuke knew Naruto was trying to be polite, but he was goddamn fucking curious. This was considering he didn't know anything because Naruto hadn't had a chance to explain the phone call. He chose the simplest sentence he could think of.

"So, how've things been?" He scowled when they seemed to giggle at his awkward voice.

"Things are... great." Kiba replied, sighing and letting his head drop to Shikamaru's shoulder.

"I'm glad the truth has finally surfaced." Naruto said boldly, locking eyes with the Inuzuka.

Both men in front of them nodded in agreement and appreciation. Kiba giggled when Shikamaru turned his head and blushed, pretending to blow out a hard puff of smoke as he did before.

"How are you feeling, Sasuke? I heard some things from Kakashi..." They were still wary, talking about tender subjects so soon after they happened often weren't a good idea. But Naruto had voiced his concern, so now it was Kiba's turn.

"Like shit. Don't worry about it."

Shikamaru clicked his lighter nervously in his pocket. That was his subtle way of showing concern for his friends. Although there was much silence between this group, it was because each was savoring the moment of happiness and contentment that they felt. Sometimes there were no words to express how you felt.

"Good luck." The Uchiha said softly, letting the smallest of smiles grace his angelic features.

"Same to you," Shikamaru replied, while Kiba finished his sentence, "although I'm sure neither of us will need it."

Naruto chuckled deep within his chest. "Did you hear about Sakura and Lee?"

"_Hear_ about it, I _saw_ it! I don't know how the fuck she got Neji on that leash, but I was actually kind of relieved when Rock Lee showed up. Saved him the torture." Kiba actually seemed... concerned for the Hyuuga.

"TenTen would've beaten the shit out of her, anyway." Sasuke snorted.

For the first time in a while, they all let out a long, hearty laugh. Sure they had laughed their whole lives, but this time it actually felt... _good_.

The sun set, letting an aura of peace surround them.

After saying their goodbyes, Shikamaru threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. He tugged at Kiba's wrist and guided them home, whether he was walking Kiba home or taking him back to his own house for some 'making up' - nobody would know.

The two sat by the fountain still, exchanging ideas about the relationship of the two that had just left, then reverted the conversation back to the crazy life of Haruno Sakura.

"It would be interesting to see how different their lives together will be."

Sasuke pulled Naruto's head to his shoulder, answering softly. "Yeah. Lee will do nothing but spoil that brat rotten."

"Shikamaru will do nothing but lay on his ass all day." The blonde said amusedly, chuckling.

Maybe they didn't understand each other, but they understood that everyone lives to their own theme song and ticks to their own clock. It was what made them unique people, living the way they wanted to, being the people that they grew up to be. And they knew that. Even Sakura. So they looked at each other, Naruto reaching a hand up and gently cupping the side of Sasuke's face. He pressed their foreheads together. And just then, he admitted something that made his stomach hurt in that awfully pleasurable way.

"I love you, Sasuke."

Sasuke felt his stomach get that sensation he used to get when he first started having feelings for Naruto.

He had to admit it - he was in love.

Sasuke looked up, seeing into endlessly blue eyes, smiling the smile that only Naruto could ever see. And he too finally gave in, finally deciding that now was the time to bring to life what he had been feeling since he'd set eyes on this person in front of him.

"I love you too... Naruto."

Naruto's eyes glossed over with tears.

He didn't care who was looking, he didn't care what other people thought, and finally - he didn't really care about anything besides Naruto. The kiss they shared then was so chaste, so filled with love that anyone passing by could feel it radiate from their being.

Though, Naruto knew that Sasuke would always be the tough, unbreakable and asshole person on the outside. He would crack mean jokes and start fights, be hostile and domineering over everything. Naruto would just remember the kiss they shared that day and forget it all. And Sasuke would learn that reviving the clan and having children wasn't everything, so long as he got to spend his life with Naruto.

So when they got home, Naruto took the journal and put it under Sasuke's bed to be forgotten.

And it was there that the book collected dust, never to be used again - because Sasuke was cured.

_Thank you, God; for answering my prayers..._

_

* * *

_

_--THE END-- _

_

* * *

_Author's Note: That's it! The sappy ending of 'Diary of a Madman', a SasuNaru fanfiction. I sincerely hoped you enjoyed this story in its entirety, and I hope even more that you liked the ending! 

I'd like to thank my husband - who was graciously patient with me while I was writing this. I giggled when he pointed at me and said "You're writing more gay porn, aren't you?!" xD And he actually read my fanfiction, then thoroughly scolded me (playfully of course). I love him.

I'd especially like to thank you guys - everyone who reviewed and gave me advice, criticism, or even those who just said "you're story is awesome!" It makes me so happy inside, so thank you!

Honestly, I think I could've done better than this. But I hope you stay tuned for the next installment, where I will try harder! You can put on author alert or keep an eye out on my profile page, or whatever. Or don't, if you don't want to. :P LOVE TO ALL!!

--M. Blue


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

"Do we have to watch this movie _again_?" 

"_I find one more- just one- and I'm gonna catch him and staple his ass shut."_

A certain blonde ninja let out a loud, boisterous laugh. "But I love this movie! Don't you like it?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the pout from his lover. "I did the first time around. After I memorized all the lines it kind of got uninteresting."

Naruto punched the brunette on the arm from where he was currently lying down. On Sasuke's lap, that is. With proper bugging and nagging he had gotten the Uchiha to actually sit up in bed, so he could comfortably lie down. Of course that meant that Naruto was hogging all the blankets. Sasuke let out a deep sigh.

"Come on, Naruto... can't we watch something else? Like Battle Royale?"

"No, Sasuke!" He buried his head under a blanket. "You know I can't watch gory things!"

Sasuke took a glance at the clock. _A quarter after seven._ "Well, let's get dressed. We were supposed to be at Kiba's fifteen minutes ago."

The blonde shot up from his place in bed, trying to scramble to his feet which only ended up in falling face first onto the carpet. He silently thanked a random deity that he didn't live in his old apartment anymore – wood was so much less forgiving than carpet.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?! It's Shikamaru's birthday, damnit! We can't be late!"

He helped his clumsy boyfriend to his feet. "We already are."

As Sasuke took his time pulling on a pair of slacks and a nice shirt, Naruto ran around like a chicken with his head cut off. Sasuke always tried to explain that rushing will only make you forget something, but of course he would never listen.

He grabbed Naruto's wrist as he tried to run by.

"Do you know what tomorrow is?"

"The 29th of November?"

"And what does that mean?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. _If he doesn't remember, I swear I'll beat him to death_.

Blue eyes slightly widened in realization, moving to rest his hands on Sasuke's hips.

"It means we've been together for a whole year."

Sasuke wrapped his own arms around Naruto's waist. Yes, hugging Sasuke was much better then worrying about being late. Naruto rested his head against his partner's strong shoulder.

"What'd you get me?" The blonde asked playfully, nipping at an earlobe.

"A whole day's worth of mind-blowing, toe-numbing sex?"

"Sounds good to me." Naruto giggled; stepping back and striking a sexy pose in his new outfit. He gave Sasuke a saucy wink.

"So, how do I look?"

"Gorgeous." He whispered. "Absolutely gorgeous."

"_I can see the news report now - they were a quiet family, kept pretty much to themselves. No one ever would have suspected them of foul play."_

* * *

Author's Note: Yeah, I know it sucks. Something fluffy to show they continued being together. I know I'm supposed to be writing the next part, and I have about half of the first chapter done... but I just can't. find. the. TIME!

P.S. – Anyone who can guess the movie gets hearts and stars. :P


End file.
